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t  TWENTY-NINTH  i 

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ANNUAL  JOINT  DEBATE  | 

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UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN.  * 


MUNICIPALIZATION  OF  STREET  RAILWAYS. 


I 

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MUNICIPALIZATION  OF  STREET  RAILWAYS. 


TWENTY-NINTH 


ANNUAL  JOINT  DEBATE 


OF    THE 


UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN 


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LIBRARY  HALL,  DECEMBER  J  6,  1898. 


EDITED    AND    ARRANGED   BY    W.   S.   KIES. 


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Twenty-Ninth   Annual   Joint   Debate, 


PRESIDENT  OF  THE  EVENING,  PROF.  D.  B.  FRAN  KEN  BU  RGE  R. 


...DEBATE... 

Question — Is  the  present  system  of  private  ownership  and  oper 
ation  of  the  street  railway  lines  of  the  'dit-y  of  Chicago  preferable 
to  a  system  of  municipal  ownership  and  operation? 

INTERPRETATION. 

"Street  railway  lines"  to  mean  all  surface  and  elevated  lines  operating  within 
the  city  limits,  excluding  such  suburban  lines  as  the  "Illinois  Central"  and 
"  Rock  Island." 

CONCEDED:  —  1.  That  the  transfer  can  legally  and  constitutionally  be  made, 
and  at  a  fair  compensation. 

2.  That    such    municipal  system   shall   be  free  from  State  legislative  inter- 
ference. 

3.  That  all  appointments,  promotions  and  removals  shall  be  made  on  the  basis 
of  efficiency  only. 


AFFIRM  ATI  VE-ATHEN/e. 

BENJAMIN  Pass, 
JOSEPH  LOEB, 
WM.  S.  KIES. 


NEGATIVE-PHILOMATHIA. 

WM.   F.  ADAMS, 
WARREN  M.  PERSONS, 
EMERSON  ELA. 


JUDGES. 

PROF.  CHAS.  H.  HASKINS,       HON.  BURR  W.  JONES,       PROF.  CHAS.  S.  SLIGHTER 


DECISION:     Unanimous  for  the  affirmative. 


170192 


PREFACE. 


The  young  men  who  have  produced  this  book  are  to  be  con- 
gratulated. The  University  of  Wisconsin  grants  no  .  higher 
honors  than  those  she  freely  gives  to  her  joint  debaters-.  Inter- 
collegiate debates  awaken  interest,  and  intercollegiate  victories 
are  always  welcome  ;  but  this  home  debate  between  our  own  liter- 
ary societies  is  looked  upon- as  the  chief  literary  event  of  the  col- 
lege year,  and  the  supremest  test  of  intellectual  ability.  This 
book,  in  a  true  sense,  is  only  the  mere>t  fragment  of  the  work 
they  have  done  upon  this  question.  Wo  know  that  investigation, 
both  intensive  and  extensive,  untiring  investigation  in  libraries 
and  in  practical  life,  has  been  carried  on;  that  all  facts  and  re- 
sults have  been  scrutinized,  weighed  and  measured  by  scientific 
and  logical  standard  with  the  knowledge  that  an  alert  and  skill- 
ful foe  would  finally  test  the  work.  All  this  lies  back  of  this 
seemingly  Inadequate  result  of  their  labors.  And  yet,  we  know 
that  they  have  gained  an  exact  and  familiar  knowledge  of  the 
conditions  that  surround  our  greatest  municipal  problem ;  that 
they  have  gained  real  intellectual  power,  the  end  of  any  adequate 
education,  a  power  that,  however  gained,  will,  in  the  battle  of 
life,  count  for  more  than  diplomas  and  degrees.  They  have 
placed  themselves  in  the  long  line  of  joint  debaters  that  reach 
back  nearly  to  the  birth  of  the  university,  and  will,  we  hope, 
reach  a  long  way  into  the  future.  For  all  this  they  are  to  be 
congratulated. 

DAVID  B.  FRAKKESTBURGER 

University  of  Wisconsin,  May,  1899. 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  question  of  the  regulation  of  quasi-public  monopolies  is 
one  which  is  assuming  vast  importance  in  this  country.  The 
public  has  come  to  realize  that  the  holder  of  a  franchise,  grant- 
ing certain  privileges  in  the  streets,  has  in  this  privilege  an  im- 
mense source  of  wealth ;  and  with  the  realization  of  this  fact  has 
come  the  desire  to  share  in  the  profits  derivable  from  franchise 
rights.  There  is  no  denying  the  proposition  that  the  streets  be- 
long to  the  people,  or  that  the  massing  together  of  human  beings 
in  urban  centers  creates  the  necessity  for  rapid  transportation, 
for  electric  lights  and  gas,  for  a  supply  of  water;  and  it  is  by 
taking  advantage  of  these  needs  of  society  that  corporations,  us- 
ing the  city's  streets,  have  been  able  to  declare  large  and  frequent 
dividends. 

That,  corporations  have  in  many  cases  abused  their  privileges, 
and  forgotten  the  debt  they  owe  the  municipality,  from  which 
they  obtained  their  privileges,  is  also  a  fact.  Wretched  service 
and  exorbitant  rate's  have  in  many  cases  been  the  means  of  main- 
taining illegitimate  dividends  on  watered  stock.  The  reprehen- 
sible methods  employed  by  some  corporations  have  been  the 
cause  of  bringing  down  a  storm  of  abuse  upon  corporations  in 
general ;  and  impatient  reformers,  with  more  enthusiasm  than 
wisdom,  have  endeavored  to  introduce  this  or  that  radical  course 
of  action  as  a  remedy  without  a  due  consideration  of  the  conse- 
quences. 

Corporations  are  the  product  of  our  times ;  production  in 
modern  society  is  carried  on  by  great  organizations  of  capi- 
tal; the  day  of  the  individual  producer  is  gone.  The  ques- 
tion, then,  of  the  regulation  of  the  vast  combinations  of 
capital  is  one  worthy  of  the  closest  and  most-  careful  study. 
Hasty  action  on  carelessly  formed  conclusion  is  certain  to  be  dis- 
astrous. The  results  of  the  work  of  the  enthusiastic  reformers 
referred  to  have  been  on  the  whole  good,  however,  for  the  peo- 
ple have  become  aroused  to  the  importance  of  the  question. 
Thinking  men  are  giving  their  time  and  services  in  the  attempt 
to  solve  the  problem.  It  is  an  earnest  of  better  days  in  the  fu- 
ture, that  when  the  large  street  railway  corporations  in  Chicago 


—  S  — 

sought  a  fifty  year  extension  of  their  franchises,  the  people  of 
the  city  rose  up  in  the  defense  of  their  rights,  and  demanded 
proper  compensation  for  the  use  of  the  streets. 

Though  the  demands  made  by  the  people  were  to  some  extent 
unreasonable;  though  a  needless  hard  feeling  was  engendered 
through  the  lack  of  tact  exercised  by  the  leaders  of  the  people; 
though  the  entire  question  was  dragged  into  politics,  and  used  as 
a  means  of  making  political  capital  for  an  aspirant  for  guber- 
natorial honors,  still  despite  the  blunders  and  mistakes,  the  city 
of  Chicago  is  a  stronger  municipality  for  having  passed  through 
such  a  struggle.  Both  sides  now  see  that  some  compromise  is 
necessary,  and  without  a  doubt  the  question  of  the  extension  of 
franchises  will  be  settled  in  the  near  future  on  terms  mutually 
satisfactory.  Shorter  term  franchises,  with  increased  compen- 
sation to  the  city,  will  be  the  result  of  this  uprising  of  the  people, 
But,  nevertheless,  the  problem  will  not  be  finally  settled,  for 
the  question  of  municipalization  is  certain  to  occupy  a  prom- 
inent place  in  the  popular  mind  for  years  to  come. 

It  has  been  the  endeavor  of  the  participants  in  this  debate  to 
bring  out  the_5tretngth  and  weakness  of  a  system  of  municipal 
ownership  of  street  rail  ways.  To  make  the  question  more 
practical,  a  typical  American  city  was  selected  as  the  subject  of 
the  experiment. 

The  preparation  for  this  debate  has  been  thoroughly  intensive 
as  \\vll  as  extensive.  Weeks  were-  spent  in  Chicago  by  both 
sides,  studying  the  problems  of  city  administration.  Personal 
interviews  were  had  with  all  of  the  prominent  men  of  the  city ; 
hundreds  of  Jotters  weiv  written,  gathering  opinions  on  the  ex- 
perience of  other  cities,  in  the  administration  of  public  affairs. 
•  The  six  debaters  would  undoubtedly  agree  on  the  general 
proposition  that  a  regulation  of  public  service  monopolies  is  a 
necessity ;  and  they  would  probably  agree,  too,  that  municipal 
ownership  and  operation,  under  present  conditions,  is  not  as  yet 
advisable  in  Chicago. 

The  system  toward  which  we  seem  to  be  working  in  this  coun- 
try is  what  may  be  called  the  German  system,  viz. :  Municipal 
ownership  and  private  operation ;  the  operating  company  to  be 
allowed  a  reasonable  profit  on  their  investment,  a  sum  for  sink- 
ing fund  and  general  repairs,  and  the  remaining  surplus  to  be 
divided  with  the  city.  This  plan,  with  some  modification,  is  the 
one  which  is  advocated  by  the  Massachusetts  commission. 
With  a  scheme  of  this  kind  in  operation,  we  still  have  left  the 
incentive  of  private  gain,  for  the  more  economically,  run,  and  the 


—  9  — 

more  carefully  administered  the  plant  is,  the  larger  will  be  the 
company's  share. 

There  is,  of  course,  a  great  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  introduc- 
tion of  such  a  system  of  ownership  and  control  in  American 
cities,  and  that  is  the  acquisition  of  the  properties,  European 
street  railways  are  insignificant  when  their  values  are  compared 
with  the  immense  systems  in  the  United  States.  The  condem- 
nation, under  the  right  of  eminent  domain,  of  a  continental 
street  railway  worth  perhaps  three  or  four  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  and  the  assumption  of  the  road  by  the  city  at  a  fair  valu- 
ation is  but  a  bagatelle  compared  with  the  taking  over  of  the 
street  railways  of  a  city  like  Chicago,  worth  at  the  least  calcula- 
tion from  seventy-five  to  a  hundred  million  dollars. 

But  the  city  of  Chicago  has  the  power  to  obtain  practically  all 
the  advantages  of  actual  ownership  if  it  will  but  choose  capable 
men  to  act  for  it  in  the  common  council,  men  who  will  thor- 
oughly and  conscientiously  apply  themselves  to  the  solution  of 
the  problem.  The  street  railway  companies  of  Chicago  have  on 
the  whole  given  the  city  excellent  service".  They  have  aided 
greatly  in  the  distribution  of  population  over  wider  areas,  and 
have  no  doubt  created  large  real  estate  values.  While  profiting 
themselves  with  the  growth  of  the  city  they  have  nevertheless 
contributed  much  to  its  growth.  They  have  adopted  a  very  lib- 
eral extension  policy,  so  liberal  that  Chicago  has  today  more 
miles  of  street  railway  than  any  other  city  in  the  world.  Mil- 
lions of  dollars  of  capital  have  been  brought  to  the  city  and  in- 
vested. In  some  cases,  as  for  example  the  elevated  roads,  years 
must  elapse  before  adequate  returns  on  the  actual  cost  are  de- 
rived. Millions  have  been  spent  in  experimentation,  reconstruc- 
tion and  in  the  development  of  the  system.  These  things  must 
be  taken  into  consideration,  in  a  careful  study  of  the  situation, 
and  it  is  these  very  things  which  are  sometimes  entirely  ignored 
by  the  reformer. 

The  question  as  worded  for  this  debate  grants  a  civil  service, 
such  as  Chicago  has  not  as  yet  been  able  to  obtain.  In  fact, 
what  impressed  both  sides  in  working  up  the  question  was  the 
general  administrative  incapacity  of  the  city  of  Chicago.  This 
is  due  partly  to  the  division  of  responsibility,  but  more  to  the  in- 
tense partisanship  displayed  in  every  department  of  city  gov- 
ernment. Politics  run  the  city  of  Chicago  today,  but  it  is  an  en- 
couraging sign  that  the  business  men  and  the  better  element  of 
the  city  have  be«nin  to  see  the  danger  threatening  their  city,  and 
have  formed  a  Municipal  Voters'  League,  and  a  Civic  Federa- 


—  10  — 

tioii,  both  of  which  organizations  are  doing  a  splendid  work  in 
the  canse  of  good  government.  Yet  we  can  not  look  for  much 
permanent  improvement  to  result  from  these  biennial  spasms  of 
virtue.  The  practical  politician  is  at  work  all  the  year  round, 
increasing  his  influence.  He  attends  every  primary  and  every 
caucus ;  he  makes  friends  and  voters  every  day  in  the  year. 
The  reformer  to  be  a  practical,  a  successful  reformer,  needs  to  do 
the  same.  Politics  today  has  become  as  intricate  a  business  as 
any  on  Wabash  avenue,  but  it  is  generally  left  to  the  unscrupu- 
lous, unprincipled  ward  heeler. 

A  prominent  Chicago  lawyer  expressed  the  following  opinion 
in  a  conversation  with  the  writer :  "'What  Chicago  needs  is  a  few 
determined,  independent  men  of  the  Roosevelt  type.  Fearless, 
aggressive  men,  with  the  means  at  their  command  to  enable  them 
to  devote  their  entire  time  to  the  matter ;  with  the  ability  to  meet 
the  corrupt  politician  on  his  own  ground,  and  with  integrity  and 
manhood  enough  to  preserve  them  from  temptation.  Such  a 
man  could  have  anything  he  wanted  from  Chicago.  The  people 
are  ready  to  move  in  the  right  direction,  but  lack  the  right  kind 
of  a  leader." 

When  Chicago,  under  the  leadership  of  such  a  man,  attains 
success  in  its  administrative  departments,  it  will  be  ready  to  con- 
sider the  question  of  municipal ization  of  natural  monopolies, 
Perhaps  when  that  time  comes  municipal  operation  will  have 
been  so  successful  as  to  leave  no  doubt  as  to  its  advantage;  or 
perhaps  we  shall  have  developed  a  system  akin  to  the  German 
system  of  management,  but  improved  by  the  application  of 
American  ingenuity  and  ability. 

.However  it  be,  it  is  certain  that  as  \he  social  theory  of 
property  and  property  rights  gains  ascendency  in  the  economic 
world,  the  question  of  a  regulation  of  public  service  monopolies 
is  certain  to  be  solved  in  the  direction  of  a  closer  supervision  over 
the  quality  of  service  rendered  to  the  public,  and  an  equitable 
division  of  monopoly  profits  between  the  city  and  the  operating 
corporation. 

•K-         vf         -X- 

The  debaters  wish  to  take  this  opportunity  of  expressing  their 
gratitude  to  Prof.  I).  B.  Frankenburger,  the  head  of  the  De- 
partment of  Oratory  and  Rhetoric,  for  his  most  valuable  advice 
and  assistance,  and  to  the  other  members  of  the  faculty  of  the 
University  of  Wisconsin,  who,  by  their  sympathetic  aid,  have 
helped  to  build  up  Wisconsin's  debating  system. 

— W.  S.  K. 


BENJAMIN  POSS,  ATHENAE. 

I. 

Evidence  of  a  demand  for  the  municipal  ownership  and  oper- 
ation of  street  railways  is  confined  chiefly  to  vote-winning  planks 
hi  party  platforms.  Members  of  municipal  reform  leagues  op- 
pose it.  Official  investigations  of  the  policy  have  resulted  in  its 
rejection.  The  Massachusetts  state  legislative  commission,  of 
Avhich  Charles  Francis  Adams  was  chairman,  in  its  report  of 
January,  181)8,  states :  "The  municipalizatioii  of  street  railways 
is  not  accepted  as  indisputably  desirable  in  Great  Britain  while 
in  Germarr^it  is  regarded  unfavorably."  This  commission  is  op- 
posecTto  the  introduction  of  tho  policy.  The  Xew  York  special 
legislative  commission  reports  in  1896 :  "We  unhesitatingly  dis- 
approve of  the  idea  of  municipalities  owning  and  operating  their 
street  railways."  Xo  city  in  America  owns  and  operates  its 
street  railway  lines.  In  the  United  Kingdom  but  seven  cities 
operate  their  lines.  More  than  nine-tenths  of  the  street  railway 
mileage  in  the  United  Kingdom  is  operated  by  private  com- 
panies. Says  Dr.  Carl  Hilse  of  Germany :  "The  burgomasters 
of  our  cities,  large  and  small,  oppose  the  policy  of  municipal 
operation."  There  are  only  ten  cities  in  the  world  which  oper- 
ate their  lines  under  the  system  of  the  negative. 

Corporations  are  a  product  of  our  social  and  economic  life. 
Their  complex  nature  and  varied  interests  demand  the  passage 
of  laws  upon  laws  for  the  definition  and  execution  of  their 
powers.  In  comparatively  few  years  villages  developed  into 
large  urban  centers.  Legislative  and  administrative  forms  of 
municipal  government,  however,  suffered  from  a  lack  of  develop- 
ment. This  rapid  and  complex  growth  of  the  one  and  the  lack 
of  development,  of  the  other  have  made  it  difficult  for  street  rail- 
way corporations  and  municipalities  to  establish  relations  mutu- 
ally satisfactory.  The  mayors  of  our  large  cities,  however, 
write  us  that  these  relations  are  becoming  more  and  more  satis- 
factory ;  that  there  is  no  wide-spread  demand  for  municipal 
ownership  and  operation. 

Chicago  is  an  excellent  illustration.  Neither  the  Civic  Fed- 
eration nor  the  Municipal  Voters' League,  the  two  leading  reform 
organizations,  have  expressed  themselves  in  favor  of  it.  Mr. 
Cole,  president  of  the  \roters'  League,  says :  "I  am  not  in  favor 
of  it."  Mr.  Lombard,  president  of  the  Federation,  writes:  "I 


—  12  — 

do  not  consider  municipal  ownership  and  operation  desirable."1 
We  have  put  the  question  to  Chicago's  leading  professional  and 
business  men  and  ninety-live  per  cent,  of  those  who  answered 
prefer  the-  present  system.  The  negative  have  assumed  the  pe- 
culiar responsibility  of  advocating  municipal  ownership  and 
operation  in  Chicago,  a  system  for  which  there  is  no  perceptible 
demand  and  which  finds  but  few  sympathizers.  The  prominence 
of  street  railway  discussion  in  Chicago  today  is  no  evidence  of  a 
desire  for  municipal  ownership.  The  public  merely  insists,  and 
justly  too,  that  whatever  relations  are  established  between  the 
traction  companies  and  the  city,  the  city's  interests  must  not  be 
overlooked.  It  is  not  a  question  of  municipal  ownership  and 
operation,  but  for  how  long  a  period  shall  franchises  be  extended 
and  what  compensation  shall  the  city  receive. 

"The  present  system  of  private  ownership  and  operation  is 
the  usual  one  of  the  corporation  obtaining  from  the  city  the 
franchise  for  the  use  of  its  tracks  and  operating  it  with  a  system 
of  horse,  cable,  or  electric  cars."  Our  discussion,  then,  revolves 
about  these  two  points  :  1.  Owm  rship  and  operation  by  private 
parties.  '1.  Ownership  and  operation  by  the  city.  I  shall  dis- 
cuss the  present  system  under  fares,  services,  and  compensation 
to  the  city. 

I.  With  Inil  few  exceptions  a  uiiit'n-riii  fare  of  rive  cents  pre- 
vails in  .the  United  States  and  ( 'nnadn.  Thus,  while  the  rate  has 
remained  nominally  the  same,  it  has  b<  vn  really  reduced.  With, 
every  increase  in  length  of  ride,  the  purchasing  power  of  the 
nickel  has  increased.  The  companies  in  Chicago  oifer  \*1  and 
15  mile  rides  for  the  same  fare  charged  for  four  mil;1  rides  ten 
years  ago,  or  two  mile  rides  thirty  years  ago.  Tiider  the  Euro- 
pean system  of  fares,  based  on  distances  traveled,  the  rate  rises 
with  an  increase  in  the  length  of  ride.  In  Glasgow,  which  oper- 
ates its  street  railway  line,  the  fares  ai1':-  as  follows: 

Fares.  Distances. 

1  cent  5S  miles. 

2  cents    1.75  miles. 

3  cents    2.33  miles. 

4  cents    3.47  miles. 

5  cents 4 .  IS  miles. 

6  cents    5  .  34  miles. 

You  can  ride  more  than  twice  as  far  for  less  money  in  Chicago 
than  you  can  in  Glasgow,  with  its  municipally  operated  horse- 


—  13  — 

car  system.  But  it  is  only  by  numerous  large  short  hauls  that 
Chicago  companies  are  enabled  to  carry  long  hauls  at  the  same 
rate  of  fare.  The  introduction  of  the  Glasgow  rates  of  fares 
into  Chicago  would  therefore  increase  the  fare  for  the  long  rides 
and  the  burden  would  fall  on  the  poorer  and  middle  classes  who 
most  need  long  cheap  rides  to  take  them  to- their,  suburban  homes. 
Granted  that  a  smaller  proportion  ride  long  distances,  you  must 
remember  that  cars  going  down  town  in  the  evening  and  up  town 
in  the  morning  are  usually  nearly  empty,  that  heavy  traffic  does 
not  continue  throughout  the  day. 

The  Xorth  Chicago  road  carried  in  797,  56,354,147  passen- 
gers. Car  miles  run  was  10,590,036.  The  average  number  of 
passengers  carried  per  mile  then  was  5.3.  On  the  same  basis  of 
computation  the  average  number  of  passengers  carried  per  mile 
by  the  Glasgow  company  was  12.1,  more  than  double  the  number 
of  passengers  carried  by  this  one  Chicago  road.  Supposing  the 
operating  expenses  to  be  the  same,  which  is  not  true,  because  the 
Chicago  company  pays  double  the  wages  paid  by  Glasgow,  the 
Glasgow  line  can  afford  to  carry  passengers  at  less  than  half  the 
rate  charged  by  the  Chicago  company.  Whatever  way  you  view 
it,  fares  in  Chicago  are  no  higher,  but  lower,  than  they  are  in 
Glasgow  which  operates  its  road. 

And  in  spite  of  contrary  assertions,  the  receipts  of  the  various 
companies  are  not  large  enough  to  warrant  a  reduction  in  fares. 
A  four  cent  fare  would  mean  a  diminution  of  the  gross  receipts 
by  twenty  per  cent.  Had  the  West  Chicago  road  so  reduced 
fares,  it  would  have  run  its  road  during  the  last  five  years  either 
at  a  loss  or  with  a  margin  that  would  have  allowed  but  an  insig- 
nificant dividend.  Both  the  Xorth  Chicago  road  and  the  Chi- 
cago City  railway  are  financially  unable  to  reduce  fares  to  four 
cents.  We  base  these  conclusions  on  the  figures  given  in  the 
Ilarlan  report.  If  these  three  large  trunk  lines  could  not  lower 
fares  and  still  earn  fair  dividends,  the  elevated  and  minor  roads, 
which  are  running  at  a  loss,  certainly  could  not.  On  the  ques- 
tion of  fares,  have  they  a  cause  for  action  ? 

II.  Xow  as  to  services,  (a)  Street,  car  traffic  in  Chicago 
has  become  so  great  that  the  companies  find  it  impossible  to  re- 
move tire  causes  of  some  complaints.  From  5  :30  to  7  :00  P.  M. 
is  required  to  carry  passengers  to  their  homes  each  evening. 
Over-crowding  is  unavoidable.  Cars  are  run  at  a  headway  of 
half  a  minute,  as  near  tog-ether  as  allowed  by  safety  and  neces- 
sity for  cross-street  traffic.  The  surface  railways  are  not  at 
fault.  The  only  remedy  is  more  "L"  roads  or  underground  sub- 


ways.  New  York  has  the  same  evil.  The  Xew  York  commis- 
sion reports  on  this:  "The  overcrowding  of  cars  cannot  be 
remedied ;  the  crush  of  travel  during  the  hours  of  greatest  pres- 
sure in  the  evening  and  morning  cannot  be  obviated." 

(b)  Some  maintain  that  the  city  council  has  not  been  urgent 
enough  in  compelling  an  extension  of  franchise  privileges. 
However,  the  peculiar  division  of  the  city  into  three  distinct 
sides  must  be  considered.  The  number  of  persons  who  travel 
from  oncj  side  through  the  heart  of  the  city  to  another  side, 
is  comparatively  small.  The  three  surface  trunk  lines  radiate 
from  the  center  of  the  city  to  the  outskirts  of  the  respective 
sides  they  operate  on, — the  Xorth  Chicago,  the  West  Chicago, 
and  the  Chicago  City  on  the  south  side.  1  cunning  out  from 
these  trunk  lines  are  feeder  lines,  so  that  each  side,  every  part 
of  Chicago  is  supplied  with  adequate  transit  facilities. 
Every  company  is  compelled  to  issue  transfers  (city  ordinances) 
on  all  the  lines  owned  or  leased  by  it.  The  Chicago  City 
on  the  south  sides  issues  seven  transfers,  the  West  Chi- 
cago three,  the  Xorth  Chicago  five,  the  Calumet  Electric  three, 
and  the  minor  companies  one  and  two.  You  can  ride  from 
any  part  of  each  side  to  any  other  part,  or  to  the  center  of  the 
city  for  one  fare.  Tin  North  Chicago  issues  per  month  about 
3,000,000  transfers,  the  West  Chicago  about  <i,500,000,  and 
the  Chicago  City  about  8,000,000.  Some  feeder  lines  on  the 
north  side  are  not  operated  on  a  paying  basis,  yet  the  companies 
grant  transfers  for  a  small  fee.  The  Suburban  ."Railway  Co. 
sells  twelve  tickets  for  one  dollar,  good  over  the  suburban  routes, 
twelve  and  fifteen  and  eighteen  miles  from  the  center  of  the  city, 
and  over  the  Lake  street  "L"  to  the  heart  of  the  commercial  life 
of  Chicago.  Xo  other  suburban  districts  in  the  country  are 
given  such  admirable  service  at  such  low  rates  of  fares. 

This  comprehensive  transfer  system  shows  that  service's,  so  far 
as  transfers  are  concerned,  {ire  not  only  not  poor,  but  good.  Com- 
pared with  other  American  cities  they  are  better.  Philadelphia 
and  Boston  companies  charge  two  mid  three  cents  respectively 
for  transfers.  The  large  Metropolitan  company  of  New  York 
issues  but  one  with  each  fare.  M  ilwaukee's  total  mileage  is  one- 
fifth  that  of  Chicago,  about  the  mileage,  of  each  of  the  three  sub- 
divisions of  Chicago.  So,  although  the  Milwaukee  company, 
which  has  a  monopoly  of  the  street  railway  traffic  there,  trans- 
fers to  all  parts  of  the  city,  its  transfer  system  is  not  as  compre- 
hensive as  that  of  each  of  the  three  trunk  lines  of  Chicago  which 
offer  3,  5  and  7  transfers  for  one  fare,  while  the  Milwaukee  com- 
pany issues  but  one. 


—  15  — 

(c)  In  discussing^ jservices  we  must  remember  that  the  great- 
est benefits  to  the  people,  and  which  are  realized  only  under  a 
system  of  private  ownership,  result  from  enormous  and  rapid  ex- 
tensions. Private  enterprise,  with  characteristic  American 
recklessness  and  immediate  sacrifice,  has  built  and  operates  in 
Chicago  a  system  of  int.ra-rnural  street  railways  which  challenges 
the  world's  admiration.  The  street  car  mileage  has  more  than 
doubled  in  the  past  ten  years.  Its, trackage  of  1,020  miles  is 
the  greatest  within  the  boundaries  of  any  city?  American  or  Eu- 
ropean. It  is  more  than  five  times  as  great  as  the  combined 
mileage  of  all  the  roads  in  the  world  owned  and  .operated  by  mu- 
nicipalities. Xo  municipality  would  dare  discount  the  future 
for  a  score  or  more  years.  Private  capital  risks,  suffers  losses, 
and  patiently  awaits  the  earnings  that  come  only  after  years. 
The  Lake  Street  UL,"  organized  in  1888,  has  not  yet  paid  divi- 
dends. Its  deficit  in  '97  was  double  that  of  '96.  The  Metro- 
politan "L"  has  a  similar  financial  tale  of  woe.  The  completion 
of  these  "L"  roads,  involving  outlays  of  millions,  caused  an  im- 
mediate rise/  in  real  estate  values.  The  public  receives  the 
benefit  of  more  rapid  transit  and  better  services.  Increased  rev- 
enues from  taxation  also  result.  But  the  stocks  and  bonds  which 
have  a  small  market  value  will  not  realize  earnings  for  years  to 
come. 

Street  railways  in  Chicago  were  built  in  advance  of  popula- 
tion. Planned  on  broad  lines  they  include  districts  that  pay  and 
districts  that  are  run  at  a  loss.  Chicago's  street  railway  exten- 
sions have  solved  sanitary  problems  which  engage  the  attention 
and  tax  the  ingenuity  of  European  municipal  sanitary  boards. 
Chicago's  population  has  spread  out;  congested  districts  have 
been  relieved.  Chicago  has  a  very  small  population  per  acre 
and  a  very  small  population  per  mile  track,  much  smaller  than 
Xew  York's,  and  considerably  smaller  than  those  of  Europeon 
cities.  Xow,  population  per  acre  decreases  with  the  population 
per  mile  track,  so  that  density  of  population  depends  greatly  on 
street  railway  facilities.  The  street  railways  of  Chicago  have 
been  an  important  factor  in  distributing  population. 

But,  probably  the  negative  will  contend  that  these  extensions 
would  have  been  made  under  a  system  of  municipal  operation. 
Let  us  see.  Since  Glasgow  has  taken  over  the  management  of 
its  roads,  four  years  au<>,  its  trackage  has  been  increased  only  a 
mile.  This  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  a  complete  reconstruction 
had  been  made.  The  history  of  municipal  undertakings  shows 
that  under  municipal  operation  extensions  come  only  after  re- 
peated demands.  Under  private  operation  they  precede  the  de- 


16  — 


mand.  This  combined  population  of  six  European  cities  which 
own  and  operate  their  lines  is  served  by  a  hundred  and  forty 
miles  of  track,  a  population  about  equal  to  Chicago's,  which  is 
served  by  seven  times  as  much  trackage. 


Population. 

Length  of 
miles  track. 

Glasgow  

703,  920 

—  77 

Huddersfield. 

100  463 

—  22 

Leeds 

402  448 

—  22 

Sheffield. 

347  278 

—  10 

Plymouth. 

98  121 

—    4 

Blaespool        

35,000 

—    5 

Total  

1,687,231 

—140 

Development  and  private  ownership  are  complementary.  The 
traction  companies  of  Chicago  have  experimented  with  every 
plausible  newly  invented  mechanical  power;  have  equipped  and 
re-equipped  with  various  appliances;  have  changed  the  means 
of  propulsion  from  horse  to  cable  and  from  cable  in  great  part 
to  electric.  Every  necessary  expenditure  which  has  promised 
greater  efficiency  has  been  made.  So  many  and  frequent  have 
been  the  changes  that  the  present  cost  of  duplication  is  no  indica- 
tion of  the  true  cost  of  the  roads.  Then,  too,  efficient  operation 
under  the  present  system  is  conducted  by  capable  and  highly- 
paid  technical  managers,  men  whom  municipal  service  does  not 
er^tice.  And,  concluding,  so  long  as  the  efficiency  per  unit  of 
labor  under  private  operation  is  greater  than  under  municipal 
operation  just  so  long  will  services  under  private  operation  be 
far  superior  to  services  under  municipal  operation.  On  the 
question  of  services  the  negative  have  no  cause  for  action. 

The  greatest  boons  offered  by  advocates:  of  the  negative  sys- 
tem are  lower  fares  and  better  services.  Facts  show  that  fares 
are  reasonably  low  and  that  services  are  reasonably  good. 
Asked,  "Do  you  find  any  cause  for  complaint  in  regard  to  ser- 
vice and  fares  of  the  street  railway  lines  of  the  city  of  Chicago  ? 
97  per  cent,  of  the  citizens  asked  answered  Xo !  To  the  query. 
Do  you  think  that  fares  would  be  lower  and  service  better  itnder 
municipal  operation  ?  they  answered,  ^To !  Says  Mayor  Harri- 
son :  "There  is  no  desire  for  lower  fares."  The  Times-Herald 
writes  (Xov.  17,  1898)  :  "The  workmen  are  not  asking  for  a 


—  17  — 

four  cent  fare  and  there  is  no  popular  demand  in  favor  of  it." 
Evidently,  the  questions  of  fares  and  services  have  been  satis- 
factorily solved  under  the  present  system. 

III.  Xow  as  to  compensation.  New  York  city  received 
from  its  lines  in  '96  a  total  of  $302,111.23,  in  lieu  of  all  other 
exactions.  This  is  about  3  per  cent,  of  the  gross  receipts  of  the 
various  companies.  In  the  same  year,  from  its  three  surface 
trunk  lines  alone,  Chicago  received  a  total  of  $1,184,700,  almost 
four  times  as  much  as  Xew  York. 

1896. 

Gross   receipts $11,741,534.46 

Taxes  and  car  licenses $344,000.00 

Ordinance  burdens 211,000.00 

Paving  and  repairing 484,000.00 

Cleaning  and  sprinkling 120,700.00 

Carrying  city  officials 25,000.00 


$1,184,700.00 
Percentage  of  gross  receipts,  10.8  per  cent, 

Chicago  has  a  greater  mileage  than  New  York.  Its  com- 
panies offer  more  transfer  privileges,  longer  rides,  and  better 
services.  And  furthermore,  the  most  valuable  franchises  in 
Xew  York  are  perpetual.  But  New  York  receives  about  one- 
fourth  less  from  its  companies  than  Chicago  receives  from  its 
lines.  Xew  York's  street  railway  facilities  are  far  inferior  to 
Chicago's.  Yet  Dr.  Albert  Shaw,  testifying  before  the  New 
York  State  Commission,  says :  "I  have  never  dreamed  of  advo- 
cating municipal  ownership  in  Xew  York.  I  have  never  even 
thought  of  it  as  a  remedy." 

In  addition  to  the  compensation  received  from  the  trunk  lines, 
the  Union  "L"  road  pays  in  accordance  with  its  franchise 

Five  per  cent,  of  the  gross  receipts  per  annum  the  first  five 
years. 

Ten  per  cent,  of  the  gross  receipts  per  annum  the  next  five 
years. 

Fifteen  per  cent,  of  the  gross  receipts  per  annum  the  next  ten 
years. 

Twenty  per  cent,  of  the  gross  receipts  per  annum  the  next 
fifteen  years. 

Twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  gross  receipts  per  annum  there- 
after. 


—  IS  — 

The  deplorable  financial  condition  of  the  other  "L"  roads,  and 
various  minor  lines,  some  in  the  hands  of  receivers,  will  not  war- 
rant the  city  to  exact  further  compensation.  The  only  source 
for  additional  compensation  must  be  a  percentage  of  the  gross 
receipts  of  the  three  large  trunk  lines.  The  Harlaii  report, 
which  has  been  discredited  by  the  strong  reform  organization, 
the  Civic  Federation,  by  some  method  of  absurd  reasoning,  at- 
tempts to  show  that  the  three  companies  can  afford  to  pay  the 
following  additional  percentages  (average) : 

Chicago  City  Ey.  Co 18.60  per  cent. of  gross  receipts. 

West  Chicago  Co 15.68  per  cent,  of  gross  receipts. 

North  Chicago  Co 24. 21  per  cent,  of  gross  receipts. 

Chicago  City  Ey.  Co 18 .  60  per  cent,  of  gross  receipts. 

They  already  pay  an  average  of  over  10  per  cent.  (See  above.) 
The  Harlan  figures,  if  a  computation  were  made,  would  show 
that  a  diminution  of  the  gross  receipts  of  the  companies  by  20 
per  cent,  would  wreck  the  roads.  Add  10.8  per  cent.,  which 
they  already  pay,  to  1.8.6  per  cent.,  or  2-L21  per  cent.,  or  15. 6S 
per  cent.,  and  the  resulting  figures  would  represent  an  exaction 
which  would  be  unfair  and  unjust.  Says  the  Times-Herald, 
which  is  not  at  all  friendly  to  these  companies:  "A  compensa- 
tion of  20  per  cent.,  however  paid,  would  bo  robbery  of  the  cor- 
porations. There  is  not  a  street  car  lino  in  Chicago  which 
could  pay  such  a  tax." 

Gentlemen,  every  franchise  granted  by  the  city  council  pro- 
vides for  compensation  in  some  form.  There  is  no  law  in  Illi- 
nois nor  a  city  ordinance  that  can  estop  the  council  from  de- 
manding whatever  compensation  it  deems  just.  The  city  coun- 
cil can  extend  an  old  or  grant  a  new  franchise  for  any  period  of 
lime  from  five  to  fifty  years.  The  companies  stand  willing;  to 
pay  an  additional  peiventaire  of  their  gross  receipts  if  their 
franchises  are  extended.  The  question  seeking  solution  is: 
"What  percentage  of  their  gross  receipts  should  be  paid?''  The 
reasonableness  of  the  demands  and  offers  must  decide.  An  im- 
partial investigation  shows  that  in  the  question  of  compensation 
they  have  no  cause  for  action. 

The  negative  have  a  choice  of  two  systems.  If  they  contend 
that  evils  in  the  present  system  are  due  to  a.  corrupt  council, 
certainly  a  system  of  municipal  ownership. and  operation  with 
control  lodged  in  the  council  would  give  rise  to  a  worse  state  of 
affairs.  A  mere  change  in  system  cannot  reform  the  council  nor 


1  Q 

_L  u 

wholly  change  the  political  life  of  the  city.  Confronted  with 
this  greater  difficulty  the  negative  must  advocate  some  system  of 
control  by  means  of  a  board.  But  it  must  be  a  most  theoretical 
scheme,  indeed,  by  which  could  be  administered  a  system  of  city 
ownership  and  operation  of  the  street  railways  without  dealing 
with  the  other  departments  of  Chicago's  government.  The 
management  of  the  street  railway  system  interlocks  with  other 
business  of  the  city  in  a  most  intricate  manner.  No  board  can 
be  given  the  power  to  make  extensions  without  the  consent  of  the 
council.  The  city  through  the  council  has" absolute  control  of 
the  streets.  Laying  tracks,  stretching  wires,  building  road-beds, 
all  these  are  subject  to  the  control  of  the  council.  If  the  admin- 
istration of  the  governing  board  conflicts  with  the  council  or 
other  departments,  then  there  will  be  dishonesty  and  friction  as 
when  a  private  company  does  the  same  business  with  the  same 
departments  of  government.  A  governing  board  cannot  do  away 
with  the  corruptions  which  have  resulted  from  dealings  of  the 
street,  railway  companies  with  the  aldermen.  Then,  too,  this 
governing  board  must  be  appointed  by  the  mayor,  or  the  council, 
or  by  some  other  governing  body,  or  must  be  elected  directly  by 
the  p;  ople.  Directly,  or  indirectly,  the  management  of  their  sys- 
tem must  be  subject  to  the  same  forces  which  are  elsewhere  re- 
sponsible for  o-nvcniiiK-nt  in  ( 'hicago.  The  management  of  gigan- 
tic quasi  public  enterprises,  requiring  millions  for  capitalization, 
is  seldom  free  from  accusations  of  impropriety.  But  the  mil- 
lennium of  municipal  honesty  is  not  yet -come,  and  the  stamp  of 
approval  of  the  negative  alone,  will  hardly  hasten  its  coming. 

They  have  assumed  the  task  of  proving  that  a  system  of 
municipal  ownership  and  operation,  untried  in  America,  would 
produce  more  satisfactory  results  that)  the  present  system. 
But,  unless  they  can  show  that  the  operation  of  their  system 
will  result  in  lower  fares,  or  better  services,  or  an  increased 
return  to  the  city,  what  cause  have  they  to  demand  so  radical  a 
change?  Toronto,  Canada,  desiring  to  improve  its  railway 
facilities,  purchased  its  road  and  leased  it  for  private  opera- 
tion. This  system  prevails  in  Europe.  The  negative  go  farther. 
They  advocate  not  only  municipal  ownership,  but  also  municipal 
operation.  Here  lies  their  greatest  difficulty.  Whatever  their 
scheme  of  management,  the  efficiency  obtained  under  private 
operation  has  never  yet  been  equaled  by  the  efficiency  obtained 
under  municipal  operation.  The  Harlan  commission  has  made 
probably  the  most  virulent  attack  on  the  traction  companies  of 
Chicago.  Yet  Mayor  Harrison,  member  ex-officio  of  the  commis- 


90 

~~—    £4  \J 

sion,  and  John  Maynard  Harlan,  the  chairman,  both  regard  the 
municipal  operation  of  the  roads  as  impracticable. 

Under  the  present  system,  we  have  shown  that  Chicago  enjoys 
as  satisfactory  services  as  the  conditions  of  the  city  will  permit ; 
that  she  enjoys  reasonably  low  fares ;  that  she  is  solving  the 
problem  of  compensation  as  Boston,  St.  Paul,  and  other  largq 
cities  have  solved  it.  An  additional  compensation  will  be  ex- 
acted ;  the  companies  are  ready  to  pay  it.  During  the  two  years 
of  the  operation  of  the  Allen  law  the  city  council  has  not  yet 
dared  to  grant  a  franchise  for  an  excessively  long  term  or  pro- 
viding for  inadequate  compensation.  The  fifty-year  franchise 
idea  has  been  killed.  Further,  we  have  shown  that  the  liberal 
financial  policy  of  the  roads  has  made  possible  an  extensive  and 
widely-ramifying  system  of  street  car  lines  with  which  the 
results  achieved  under  municipal  operation  are  incomparable. 
Lastly,  we  have  called  attention  to  the  impossibility  of  removing 
the  management  of  the  roads,  under  the  negative  system,  from 
the  corrupting  influences  which  are  elsewhere  responsible  for 
Chicago's  government. 

Remember,  the  system  of  the  negative  is  but  in  an  experimen- 
tal stage,  and  at  that,  in  only  a  few  European  cities ;  that  it  is 
discountenanced  by  Germany ;  that  it  is  pronounced  impractica- 
ble by  American  investigators ;  that  it  is  not  demanded  in  Chi- 
cago. 


Or  1 

UNIVER 


WM.  F.  ADAMS,  PHILOMATHIA. 


The  most  important  local  problem  before  American  cities  to- 
day is  cheap  and  rapid  urban  transportation.  Necessity,  as  well 
as  convenience,  demands  that  the  best  possible  service  be  given 
on  the  street  railway  lines.  So  far  in  American  experience,  the 
city  has  generally  given  the  right  of  public  transportation  to 
private  corporations.  At  first,  this  grant,  or  franchise,  was 
simply  a  protection  to  the  business  of  the  corporation.  But  as 
the  profits  of  the  companies  increased  by  the  growth  in  popula- 
tion and  the  reduction  of  operating  expenses,  these  franchises 
became  of  the  greatest  value.  In  consequence  of  this  fact,  the 
larger  cities  now  demand  from  the  corporations  a  fair  compensa- 
tion for  such  valuable  rights.  Besides  a  money  consideration, 
the  city,  of  course,  rightly  demands  a  good  service. 

With  this  brief  introduction,  we  come  to  the  question :  Is  the 
present  system  of  private  ownership  and  operation  in  Chicago 
preferable  to  a  municipal  system?  The  answer  to  this  question 
clearly  depends  upon  the  answers  to  these  three  other  questions. 
First — Are  there  evils  in  the  present  system  ?  Second — Is  a  mu- 
nicipal system  a  remedy  for  these  evils  ?  Third — Is  municipal 
ownership  and  operation  expedient  and  practicable  ?  In  the  an- 
swer to  these  questions,  honorable  Jurors,  you  must  constantly 
keep  in  mindi  that  the  municipal  system  is  conceded  to  be  legal,, 
free  from  all  state  interference,  and  that  it  is  further  conceded 
that  all  appointments,  promotions,  and  removals,  are  to  be  mada 
on  the  basis  of  efficiency  only. 

Taking  up  now  the  first  question :  Are  there  evils  in  the 
present  system?  we  find  two  inherent  evils  in  the  present  street 
railway  system  of  Chicago — poor  service,  and  its  constant  cor- 
rupting influence  upon  state  and  city  government. 

To  the  great  business  population  of  Chicago  the  service  of  the 
street  railway  system  is  of  the  most  vital  importance.  The  gen- 
tlemen of  the  affirmative  may  claim  that  the  present  system  has 
been  a  great  aid  in  the  development  of  Chicago.  This  may  be 
admitted  in  so  far  as  lines  are  well  extended  and  good  motive 
power  used.  All  the  facts  show  clearly,  however,  that  the  present 
system,  from  the  standpoint  of  cheap  and  rapid  transit,  has  not 
and  does  not  render  good  service  to  the  people  of  Chicago. 

Let  us  consider  first  the  service.    The  main  surface  lines  serv- 


22 

ing  this  city  are  included  in  three  large  companies — the  West 
Chicago  Street  Railway  Company,  the  Xorth  Chicago  Street 
Railway  Company,,  and  the  Chicago  City  Railway  Company, 
operating  respectively  on  the  west,  north  and  south  sides.  The 
lines  of  these  main  companies  all  enter  the  business  district. 
There  are  also  three  elevated  roads — the  South  Side  L,  and  the 
Metropolitan  and  Lake  Street  L's  on  the  west  side,  all  connect- 
ed by  the  Union  Loop  in  the  business  district.  Besides  these 
larger  roads  there  are  no  less  than  eleven  minor  companies, 
aggregating  2-iS  miles,  making  a  total  of  nineteen  separate  com- 
panies. 

As  a  result  of  this  multiplicity  of  companies  there  is  110  such 
thing,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  term,  as  a  system  of  transporta- 
tion, but  a  conglomeration  of  many  systems.  This  unsystematic 
arrangement  would  not  be  worthy  of  so  much  condemnation  were 
it  not  for  the  fact  that  absolutely  no  connection  or  transfer 
privileges  exist  between  the  lines  of  the  different  systems,  and 
sometimes  not  even  between  the  lines  of  the  same  system. 

Take  first  the  three  main  companies.  Although  two  of  them 
—the  West  Chicago  and  the  ^Xorth  Chicago  Companies — are 
both,  in  rh«-  Yerkes  management,  all  of  them  fail  entirely  to 
arrange  a  mutual  connection  of  routes  or  provide  transfers  be- 
tween them.  This  inexcusable  lack  of  arrangement  is  especially 
felt  in  the  business  center.  Every  passenger  going  from  any  point 
in  the  city  through  the  business  district  to  any  other  point 
must  change  cars  and  pay  two  fares.  The  three  companies  have, 
divided  the  city  between  them,  as  if  tlK>re  were  three  cities  with 
a  common  business  center,  instead  of  one  compact  and  unified 
city. 

On  the  elevated  roads  the  condition  is  tho  same.  Passengers 
on  one  road  are  brought  to  the  Union  Loop,  where  another  fare 
must  be  paid  to  change  to  any  other  line. 

In  the  minor  companies  this  lack  of  connection  is  purposely 
brought  about  by  the  old  companies  in  order  to  avoid  transfers. 
When  extensions  became  necessary  on  the  Xortli  and  West  sides, 
Mr.  Yerkes,  who  controls  tho  Xorth  Chicago  and  West  Chicago 
Companies  operating  these  districts,  instead  of  simply  extending 
these  old  lines  to  cover  the  new  districts,  formed  new  companies, 
under  the  old  company's  management,  and  then  charged  two 
fares  to  all  passengers  transferring  between  the  old  company's 
lines  and  thcso  new  lines.  These  feeder  companies,  as  they  are 
called,  are  for  all  practical  purposes  consolidated  with  the  old 
companies,  being  independent  in  name  only.  In  no  other  way 


—  23  — 

can  this  peculiar  organization  be  explained,  except  to  avoid  giv- 
ing transfers  to  passengers  on  the  ground  that  the  lines  of  two 
different  companies  are  being  used.  There  are  to-day  no  less 
than  seven  separate  Yerkes  feeder  companies  on  the  Xorth  and 
Wist  sides,  each  failing  completely  to  give  transfers  to  any  other 
line,  thus  making  the  fare  practically  ten  cents. 

But  even  more  than  this,  between  the  branches  of  the  two  old 
systems,  transfers  are  not  always  given,  and  the  routes  on  which 
they  are  given  are  arranged,  as  John  M.  Harlan  expressed  it  in  a 
personal  interview,  "with  devilish  ingenuity."  For  instance,  Mr. 
Yerkes  of  the  West  Chicago  Company  has  leased  to  Mr.  Yerkes 
of  the  Xorth  Chicago  Company,  the  Xorth  Halsted  Street  trolley 
line,  a  West  Chicago  line,. and  now  all  passengers  changing  from 
this  Halsted  line  to  any  of  the  twenty  other  West  Chicago  lines 
which  it  crosses  must  pay  two  fares,  on  the  ground  that  the  lines 
of  two  different  companies  are  being  used.  This  is  another  clever 
device  of  Mr.  Yerkes  to  extort  profits  from  the  people.  Time 
does  not  permit,  mention  of  all  West  and  Xorth  Chicago  lines  on 
which  transfers  are  refused. 

Besides  the  Yerkes  feeder  lines,  there  are  four  other  minor 
lines  on  the  South  side,  each  entirely  independent  of  all  other 
lines  in  granting  transfers. 

The  official  report  on  the  street  railways  of  Chicago  is  that 
issued  this  fall  by  the  special  committee  of  the  common  council, 
of  which  John  M.  Harlain  is  chairman.  This  report  says: 
"Rapid  transit  in  Chicago  is  in  the  hands  of  nearly  thirty  differ- 
ent, companies,  each  with  a  monopoly  in  its  particular  district, 
and  each  administered  under  an  individualistic  motive  to  en- 
hance its  own  interests,  rather  than  to  develop  the  means  of 
transportation  as  a  unified  system." 

The  greatest  defect  in  the  service  of  the  present  system  is  this 
utter  lack  of  unitv  and  complete  failure  to  provide  transfers 
between  routes.  The  Harlan  report  illustrates  this  by  taking  a 
point  at  the  corner  of  Polk  and  Halsted  streets.  A  person  starting 
from  this  point  must  pay  two  fares  and  take  three  lines  to  reach 
the  Illinois  Central  station,  a  mile  and  a  quarter  away;  to  reach 
the  Polk  Street  station,  also  a  mile  and  a  quarter  distant,  you 
must  take  two  lines  and  pay  two  fares ;  to  the  Xorthwestern  sta- 
tion, two  and  a  half  miles,  two  lines  and  two  fares ;  to  Lincoln 
park,  three  and  a  half  miles,  two  fares  and  two  lines.  But  the 
gentlemen  of  the  affirmative  mav  say  this  is  an  unfavorable  point 
of  starting.  But,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  take  any  point  in  the 
city,  except  the  district  immediately  covered  by  the  Chicago  City 


—  24  — 

Railway  Company,  and  you  seldom  find  it  possible  to  reach  any 
point,  even  two  or  three  miles  away,  without  changing  cars  and 
paying  two  fares.  From  the  standpoint  of  the  people,  the  effect 
of  the  present  system  is  exactly  the  same  as  if  there  were  one 
consolidated  system  charging  a  ten-cent  fare.  So  the  people  pay 
the  price  of  this  vital  defect  in  service. 

Another  obvious  result  of  this  large  number  of  unconnected 
routes  is  the  inconvenience  and  loss  of  time  occasioned  by  the 
numerous  breaks  in  transportation.  The  convenience  of  passen- 
gers and  the  interests  of  rapid  transit  certainly  demand  continu- 
ous routes  through  the  business  district  and  the  connection  of 
feeder  lines  -to  the  main  system ;  and  yet  the  business  district, 
owing  to  the  entire  lack  of  connection  between  the  lines  of  the 
three  systems  entering  it  is  a  complete  network  of  breaks  in  trans- 
portation. The  large  number  of  unconnected  feeder  companies 
produces  the  same  result.  Rapid  transit  under  such  conditions 
is  necessarily  impossible.  Thus  the  lack  of  unity  makes  the 
service  of  the  present  system  not  only  a  financial  burden  upon  the 
people,  but  a  serious  inconvenience  in  transportation. 

Can  the  service  of  such  a  system,  where  cheap  and  rapid 
transit  are  made  impossible,  be  called  satisfactory  ? 

But,  is  municipal  ownership  and  operation  a  remedy?  Every 
interest  of  cheap  and  rapid  transit  demands  consolidation  of  all 
routes,  with  transfer  privileges.  A  consolidated  system  means 
that  routes  will  be  arranged  to  serve  the  interests  of  the  whole 
system,  instead  of  one  particular  company,  as  at  present.  Such 
a  consolidation  is,  of  course,  implied  in  municipal  ownership. 
Therefore,  instead  of  a  ten-cent  fare  for  moderate  distances,  we 
should  have  a  universal  transfer  system  on  the  basis  of  a  five-cent 
fare,  thus  lifting  from  the  people  a  great  financial  burden  and 
creating  a  great  increase  in  traffic  from  the  poor  classes  now  abso- 
lutely unable  to  pay  the  excessive  rate.  Besides  a  cheap  transit, 
rapid  transit  would  be  made  possible  by  a  natural  connection  of 
the  main  routes  passing  through  the  business  center,  and  of  the 
feeder  lines  to  the  main  system. 

The  gentlemen  of  the  affirmative,  however,  although  admit- 
ting these  remedial  effects  of  municipal  ownership,  may  say  that 
municipal  management  would  be  inefficient  and  introduce  evils 
as  serious  as  those  in  the  present  system.  But,  gentlemen  of  the 
jury,  I  call  your  attention  to  the  third  concession  of  the  ques- 
tion, which  concedes  to  the  municipal  system  that  all  appoint- 
ments, promotions  and  removals  shall  be  made  on  the  basis  of 
efficiency  only.  This  concession  prevents  all  question  either  of 


—  25  — 

the  perfect  efficiency  of  employes  under  the  municipal  system,  or 
the  perfect  business  management  of  the  street  railway  depart- 
ment. All  appointments,  promotions,  and  removals,  both  of 
employes  and  managing  officials,  made  on  the  basis  of  efficiency 
only,  guarantees  a  perfectly  efficient  management  and  service, 
from  the  head  of  the  department  down  to  the  lowest  clerk  or 
employe. 

Is  not  a  unified  system  of  cheap  and  rapid  transit,  managed 
and  operated  for  the  public  good  by  a  perfect  set  of  officials  and 
employes,  a  remedy  for  the  present  multiplicity  of  systems,  each 
managed  entirely  for  individual  gain  ? 

We  pass  now  to  the  second  inherent  evil  of  the  present  system ; 
its  great  corrupting  influence  upon  state  and  city  government. 

The  most  valuable  property  of  street  railway  companies  are 
their  franchises,  for  which  they  are  entirely  dependent  upon 
legislative  authority.  The  franchises  of  the  present  Chicago 
corporations  are  worth  fully  $75,000,000.  The  value  of  the 
franchises  depends  largely  upon  their  length  and  the  amount  of 
compensation  which  must  be  paid,  and  unscrupulous  corpora- 
tions with  very  valuable  franchises  at  stake,  have  a  powerful 
motive  to  exert  corrupt  political  influence  to  avoid  the  demands 
of  the  city  and  secure  long-term  franchises  with  no  compensation. 
These  facts  explain  why  the  present  system  for  over  thirty  years 
has  deliberately  corrupted  city  councils  and  state  legislatures  to 
rob  the  city  of  compensation.  The  first  instance  of  corruption 
was  in  1865,  when  a  bill  extending  franchises  ninety-nine  years 
was  passed  over  Gov.  Oglesby's  veto.  Since  the  repeal  of  this 
act,  in  1874,  the  companies  have  been  compellled  to  go  to  the 
city  councils  for  franchises,  and  from  that  day  to  this  they  havo 
exerted  an  organized  corrupting  influence  upon  the  city  coun- 
cils to  push  through  franchises  without  compensation.  The  num- 
ber of  acknowledged  boodle  franchise  ordinances  passed  during 
this  time  is  appalling.  The  "Records  of  Aldermen,"  prepared 
by  the  Municipal  Voter's  League,  reports  that  during  the  term 
of  Alderman  John  Powers  alone  no  less  than  eighteen  such  ordi- 
nances were  passed,  in  spite  of  the  universal  protest  of  good  citi- 
zens, the  unanimous  opposition  of  the  press,  and  the  vetoes  of  the 
mayors.  In  every  council  for  the  last  twenty  ye>ars  the  street 
railway  influence  has  controlled  a  majority  of  the  council,  knowrn 
as  the  "gang." 

The  culminating  act  of  corruption,  however,  occurred  in  the 
legislature.  By  the  ordinance  of  1883  the  franchises  of  the  main 
lines  expire  in  1903.  Xow,  then,  realizing  the  immense  value  of 


a  long  extension  for  little  compensation,  the  companies  last  year 
introduced  the  notorious  Humphrey  bill,  arbitrarily  extending 
the  franchises  fifty  years.,  providing  a  five-cent  fare,  and  a  paltry 
compensation  of  threee  per  cent,  of  gross  income.  This  bill 
aroused  such  a  storm  of  protest  from  the  press  and  public  that  it 
was  defeated  in  the  assembly.  But  the  companies  were  not  to 
be  shaken  off.  The  Allen  bill  was  then  introduced,  containing 
the  essential  provisions  of  the  Humphrey  bill,  but  requiring,  in 
addition,  the  consent  of  the  city  council  to  extensions.  Again  a 
storm  of  opposition  arose.  The  Civic  Federation,  the  Municipal 
Voters'  League,  the  labor  organizations,  all  fought  it.  Mass- 
meetings  of  citizens  assembled,  committees  were  sent  to  Spring- 
field to  lobby  against  it,  the  press  with  one  voice  denounced  it, 
yet  the  bill  was  passed.  Disgraceful  as  is  the  fact,  it  is  uni- 
versally acknowledged  that  the  Allen  law  was  deliberately  bribed 
through  the  legislature-  by  the  street  railway  lobby.  In  no  other 
way  could  such  a  measure  have  been  passed.  As  Editor  ]\Iedill 
of  the  Chicago  Tribune  expressed  it:  "Xine  hundred  and  ninety- 
nine  out  of  every  one  thousand  Chicagoans  know  that  all  but  a 
half-dozen  of  the  members  who  voted  against  the  people  and  for 
Verkes  were  bribed/'  The  Civic  Federation  committee  of  one 
hundred  declared  the  Allen  law  "the  triumph  of  corporate 
greed  by  odious,  corrupt,  and  revolutionary  practice's."  Said 
Editor  Kohlsaat,  of  the  Times-Herald :  '"The  price  of  legislators 
was  as  freely  discussed  as  the  price  of  hogs  at  the  stock  yards." 
Quotation  after  quotation  from  newspapers  and  individuals  ex- 
pressed the  same  fact.  We  have  here  letters  from  assemblymen 
who  voted  atrainst  the  Allen  law.  Every  single  <>ue  expresses  him- 
self as  entirely  confident  that  the  law  was  passed  by  bribery. 
Says  Assemblyman  Allen:  "I  am  perfectly  satisfied  that  the  law 
was  passed  by  the  use  of  money  to  procure  votes." 

But  even  this  great  act  of  wholesale  bribery  is  but  preliminary 
to  one  still  greater.  The  Allen  law  simply  permits  the  companies 
to  push  through  tho  council  a  fifty-year  franchise  ordinance. 
Authorities  estimate  that  such  a  franchise  would  be  worth  to  the 
companies  fully  four  hundred  and  fiftty  million  dollars.  With 
such  an  enormously  valuable  franchise  at  stake,  with  a  power- 
fully political  machine,  backed  by  immense  capital,  present  at 
every  ward  caucus  and  primary,  potent  in  every  aldermanic  elec- 
tion, its  creatures  always  in  control  of  the  city  council,  the  com- 
panies are  "moving  heaven  and  earth,"  as  Mayor  Harrison  ex- 
pressed it,  to  pu$Ji  those  extension  ordinances  through  the  coun- 
cil. Those  ordinances  have  already  been  introduced,  and,  in 


spite<  of  ovorwlK'lniing  opposition,  are  likely  to  pass.  Their  ulti- 
mate success  or  failure,  however,  does  not,  of  course,  affect  this 
debate.  If  the  companies  do  succeed,  it  will  mean  the  complete 
surrender  of  the  city  for  fifty  years  to  come.  Even  if  they  are 
forced  to  a  short-term  franchise  with  a  compensation  tax,  condi- 
tions are  not  changed.  Granting  that  a  fair  percentage  tax 
could  be  enforced,  which  is  not  at  all  likely,  such  a  tax,  of  course, 
docs  not  affect  one  particle  the  ability  of  the  companies  to  bribe 
and  corrupt  whenever  their  interests  demand  it. 

-Now  then,  gentlemen,  we  do  not  propose  to  go  into  any  har- 
rowing details  of  the  terrible  effects  of  this  long-continued  and 
ever-increasing  corrupting  influence.  They  are  apparent.  The 
companies'  main  object  having  been  to  avoid  compensation,  they 
have  obtained  possession  of  the  streets  for  almost  nothing.  About 
the  ony  annual  tax  is  a  small  car  tax  about  equal  to  the  dox  tax. 
The  Harlan  report  shows  that  the  value  of  the  franchises  of  the 
three  large  systems  alone  is  over  $62,000,000',  and  yet  for  these 
immense  franchises  these  companies  paid  last  year  into  the  city 
treasury  only  $97,000,  or  one-tenth  of  one  per  cent.  The  mini- 
mum compensation  demandeel  by  Mayor  Harrison,  and  acknowl- 
edged by  all  authorities  as  just,  is  ten  per  cent,  of  gross  receipts. 
On  this  basis  these  companies  would  have  paid  last  year 
$1,1 50,000.  Thus  the  city  during  all  these  years  has  been  Fobbed 
of  millions  of  dollars,  which  should  have  been  paid  for  fran- 
chises. 

But  even  this  immense  robbery  is  nothing  compared  to  the 
destruction  of  political  morality  anel  honest  representation,  for 
which  the  present  system  stands  responsible.  Said  Editor  Me- 
dill  of  the  Chicago- Tribune,  writing  in  1883:  "The  common 
council  of  this  city  is  a  fetid,  steaming,  rotten: morass,  in  which 
every  scheme  of  reform,  like  high  license  for  streets,  is  pretty 
su  r< '  to  be  overwhelmed."  Said  Mayor  Harrison  last  year :  "The 
City  Council  is  steeped  in  crime  and  corruption."  The  same 
thing  might  have  been  saiel,  and  has  been  said,  of  the  intervening 
councils  and  of  the  legislatures  of  1865  and  1897.  That  the 
people  can  be  thus  continually  prevented  from  electing  and  re- 
taining honest  representatives,  that  city  councils  can  be  so 
degraded,  and  that  the  street  railway  companies  could  add  to 
these  crimes  the  wholesale  bribery  of  even  a  state  legislature, 
point  out  with  awful  clearness  that  such  powerful  and  unscrupu- 
lous corporations,  possessing  such  immense  franchises,  are  the 
greatest  menace  to  pure  city  government  and  honest  representa- 
tion that  exist  to-day.  The  gentlemen  of  the  affirmative  have 


—  28  — 

given  the  apathy  of  good  citizens  as  the  great  cause  of  poor  city 
government.  But  what  causes  this  apathy?  Says  Charles  Rich- 
ardson, vice-president  of  the  National  Municipal  League,  whose 
authority  upon  this  subject  is  unquestioned:  "The  indifference 
of  voters  which  is  so  generally  complained  of,  is  only  one  of 
many  evils  which  are  natural  results  of  transferring  useful  func- 
tions from  public  officials  to  private  corporations."  The  very 
fact  that  the  city  government  has  been  so  long  controlled  by  the 
traction  companies,  in  which  the  people  have  no  voice  or  share, 
has  made  the  citizens  of  Chicago  cease  to  care  for,  or  even  respect 
their  city  government,  The  presenj,  system,  then,  not  only  de- 
bases the  people's  representatives,  but  also  depresses  the  civic 
spirit  of  the  people  themselves.  And  as  long  as  these  corpora- 
tions exist,  as  long  as  they  possess  such  powerful  motives  for 
corruption,  their  immense  franchises,  whose  value  is  increas- 
ing every  year,  it  makes 'no  difference  what  temporary  money 
gain  the  city  may  receive,  so  long  will  these  corporations  be  a 
controlling  factor  in  politics,  a  constant  source  of  corruption  to 
city  legislatures. 

What,  then,  is  the  remedy?  Obviously  the  only  remedy  is 
to  expel  the  corporations  and  remove  the  source  and  motives  for 
bribery.  This  means  municipal  ownership.  There  is  not  one 
not  to-day  be  demanding  municipal  ownership,  were  it  not  legally 
impossible  for  the  city  to  exceed  its  debt  limit  to  buy  the  roads. 
From  interviews  and  letters,  we  find  that  the  same  proportion 
would  favor  municipal  operation,  were  it  not  for  the  fear  that 
the  street  railway  department  would  be  drawn  into  politics. 
Assuming  for  the  moment  that  such  were  possible  under  the 
terms  of  our  question,  it  is  inconceivable  that  a  municipal  depart- 
ment in  politics  would  not  IK?  far  preferable  to  the  present  sys- 
tem, which  exerts  the  greatest  corrupting  political  influence  that 
could  possibly  exist, 

But  this  one  great  objection  to  municipal  operation  is  entirely 
thrown  out  of  this  debate  by  the  third  concession  of  our  question. 
All  appointments,  promotions  and  removals  to  be  made  on  the 
basis  of  efficiency  only — a  more  perfect  department  and  one 
more  free  from  all  political  influence  cannot  be  imagined.  The 
closest,  analogy  to  such  a  system  is  the  present  Chicago  Fire 
Department ;  acknowledged  as  free  from  politics  and  one  of  the 
best  departments  in  the  world.  An  absolutely  perfect  civil 
service,  applying  not  only  to  employes,  but  also  to  officials,  this 
wre  are  conceded. 

Can  there  be  any  question  then,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  that 


—  29—, 

municipal  ownership  and  operation  with,  the  street  railway 
department  completely  free  from  politics,  is  a  remedy  for  the 
terrible  corrupt  political  influence  of  the  present  system  ? 

I  have  shown,  gentlemen,  the  two  great  evils  of  the  present 
system,  the  poor  service,  and  its  great  corrupting  influence  upon 
Chicagoan  in  ten  who  defends  the  present  system,  or  who  would 
state  and  city  government.  I  have  shown  conclusively  that 
municipal  ownership  and  operation,  with  perfect  ci^l  service,  as 
conceded,  is  the  only  remedy  for  these  evils.  It  only  remains  to 
bo  shown  that  municipal  ownership  is  financially  expedient,  and 
municipal  operation  reasonably  practicable. 


JOSEPH  LOEB,  ATHENAE. 


l/>.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  Gentlemen  of  Hie  Jury  : 
The  gentleman  preceding  me  has  dwelt  long  upon  the  inefficiency 
of  the  service  and  the  inadequacy  of  the  facilities  furnished  by  the 
Chicago  street  railway  system.  That  there  are  evils  existent  in  this 
system  as  in  all  railway  systems,  none  will  deny,  for  no  system 
w^s  ever  devised  by  human  brain  and  managed  by  human  hands 
that  proved  perfect  in  practical  action,  nor  will  municipalization 
tend  to  bring  in  such  a  millennium.  The  gentleman's  descrip- 
tion of  existing  evils  is  not  the  whole  truth.  What  would  seem 
to  be  great  evils  appear  on  further  investigation  not  to  be  evils 
at  all.  Take,  for  instance,  the  criticism  of  the  existing  transfer 
system.  Tho  gentleman  dealt  long  on  the  fact  that  the  road  on 
any  one  of  the  sides  of  the  city  (west,  north  and  south ),  does  not 
give  transfers  enabling  the  continuance  of  one's  ride  upon  thfe 
road  of  either  of  the  other  sides.  That  this  is  the  fact  is  beyond 
denial,  but  the  bare  statement  is  but  a  half-truth,  which  is  often 
more  misleading  than  a  perversion  of  the  fact  itself.  The  fact 
is,  that  there  is  no  demand  for  transfers  from  one  side  to  another, 
and  why  not?  Because  travel  in  Chicago  is  largely  radial, 
between  the  outer  residence  portion  of  the  city  and  the  central 
district  bounded  by  the  river  on  the  north  and  west,  by  12th 
street  on  the  south  and  by  the  lake  on  the  east.  Within  the  cen- 
tral square  mile  is  done  the  un-iter  portion  of  Chicago's 
retail  business,  and  hence  travel  is  largely  to  and  from  this  dis- 
trict. A  person  livinir  on  the  west  side  has  no  reason  for  desiring 
to  go  over  to  the  south  or  north  side,  <  xcent  for  ideasiivo  trip  OT 
visits.  It  is  likewise  with  travel  on  th<:-  other  sides.  Chicago  is 
really  a  combination  of  three  cities  Avith  a  common  central  busi- 
ness district.  Therefore  there  is  little  or  no  demand  for  transfers 
from  one  side  to  another.  Therefore,  although  theeondition  stated 
by  the  gentleman  is  true,  it  is  not  provocative  of  any  hardship, and 
of  no  complaint  outside  of  the  ranks  of  theorists.  The  gentleman 
also  repeatedly  asserted  that  fares  are  higher  in  Chicago  than 
elsewhere.  I  need  but  refer  you  a^ain  to  what  my  colleague 
has  said  relative  to  this  subject,  and  to  the  fact  that  no  one  in 
Chicago  outside  tho  ranks  of  the  socialists  demands  a  lower  fare, 
while,  most  Chicagoans  believe  a  lowering  of  fares  in  that  city 
impossible  for  some  time  to  come.  As  regards  the  economical 


—  31  — 

effect  of  a  combination  of  the  various  systems,  I  need  but  refer 
again  to  the  absolute  necessity  for  three  big  systems,  the  city 
presenting  the  geographical  situation  that  it  does.  The  combina- 
tion of  the  various  managements  has  already  been  proposed  and 
the  proposals  of  Joseph  Leiter  lately  made,  all  tend  toward  such 
combination.  But  then  municipalization  is  not  necessary  to 
effect  such  combination,  and  no  radical  change  in  manner  of 
ownership  is  required  to  accomplish  what  is  possible  and  even 
probable  under  present  conditions. 

My  colleague  has  described  to  you  the  present  street  railway 
system.  It  has  not  only  given  excellent  service  at  reasonable 
rates,  but  it  has  also  been  a  leading  factor  in  the  city's  growth 
and  development.  That  some  administrative  evils  and  some 
municipal  friction  should  have  arisen,  is  but  natural.  But 
as  Detroit  and  Boston  and  New  York  have  settled  similar  diffi- 
culties, so  Chicago  is  now  settling  these  by  fairer  demands  and 
fairer  offers.  Xow,  gentlemen,  let  us  consider  those  municipal 
enterprises  of  the  city  of  Chicago  which  are  admittedly  on  a  good 
civil  service  basis,  for  their  success  or  failure  will  be  largely 
indicative  of  the  city's  powers  and  capacities.  This  city  has 
undertaken  to  light  itself.  In  1887  it  planned  to  light  itself 
entirely  by  electricity  by  lsi»;J.  To-day  in  1898,  the  municipal 
plant,  far  from  lighting  the  city,  furnishes  but  1,438  electric 
lights,  while  b\vfar  the  greater  part  of  the  city  is  lighted  by 
over  500  rented  electric  lights,  by  over  33,000  rented  gas  lights 
and  by  over  10,000  rented  uasoline  lamps.  During  these  years 
the  street  car  companies  have  added  hundreds  of  miles  of 
road,  changed  their  motive  power,  kept  in  the  forefront  of  all 
improvements,  and  have  preceded  population  into  the  growing 
suburbs.  The  city  light  plant  is  most  Avastefully  run.  Says  a 
Chicago  electric  light  expert :  ""The  light  of  the  city  is  most  poor, 
not  of  full  candle-power  and  not  always  burning.  The  efficiency 
is  not  more  than  00  per  cent,"  And  another,  "The  average  is 
500  candle-power  and  the  lamps  are  out  10  per  cent  of  the  time." 
X<;w  as  to  cost.  The  Chicago  City  Street  Railroad  Company 
allows  the  free  use  of  poles,  which  makes  a  difference  of  $18  a 
light ;  the  "L"  roads  allow  the  free  use  of  their  structures  for 
stringing  wire,  and  all  the  larger  roads  pay  in  money  to  the  city's 
lighting  department ;  and  yet,  with  all  the??  advantages,  the 
lights  cost  the  city  more  than  those  it  rents  from  private  com- 
panies. (The  city  report  foT  1804  gave  the  cost  per  lamp  per 
year  as  $54.  But  expert  De  Camp  testified  before  the  Philadel- 
phia commission  that  the  peal  cost  was  $168.  The  last  re- 


—  32  — 

port  gives  the  cost  per  lamp  per  year  as  $90,  but  depreciation, 
insurance  and  interest  on  improvement  are  entirely  left  out  of 
account.  Professor  W.  J.  Meyers,  in  the  Political  Science  Quar- 
terly, proves  the  real  cost  to  be  $161,  while  Expert  Mathews  in 
a  report  on  Chicago  lighting  made  January  27,  1897,  showed  the 
actual  cost  to  be  $181,  but  that  is,  however,  somewhat  higher 
than  it  is  this  year.  The  private  companies,  although  they  have 
to  pay  tax  and  water  rates,  make  a  profit  at  a  charge  of  $107  per 
lamp  a  year,  while  the  bare  cost  of  the  city's  lights  is  $161.  The 
failure  of  the  department  i&  admitted.  The  repair  department 
has  already  been  given  up.  Says  Mayor  Harrison:  "The  repair 
of  electric  lights  was  discontinued  on  August  5,  1897,  and  is  now 
made  by  contract.  This  shows  a  net  saving  of  $570  a  month." 
Why  given  up  ?  Because  Chicago  found  it  a  most  costly  experi- 
ment. Private_c^nipa]ii£^c^n_jio  w< >rk  1  tetter  and  cheaper,  and 
the  city  knows  it.  Men  whose  whole  life  inteiv-t  ;in<l  luisines^ 
training  are  involved  will  always  do  better  than  city  boards,  or 
departments  or  commissions,  who  at  the  very  best  are  only  good 
servants,  not  wise  managers  and  masters.  Superintendent  Efli- 
",)tt  is  an  efficient  man  ;  he  has  succeeded  in  nis  own  private  busi- 
ness;  the  employes  in  his  department  are  appointed,  removed 
and  promoted  for  efficiency  only,  under  a  good  civil  service,  and 
yet  his  department  has  not  been  conducted  as  have  similar  pri- 
vate enterprises,  and  the  employes  are  not  so  efficient  as  in  private 
concerns.  Xo  government  has  ever,  even  under  the  most  perfect 
civil  service,  even  though  employes  were  appointed,  removed 
and  promoted  for  efficiency  only,  obtained  the  same  efficiency, 
the  same  effectiveness  per  unit  labor  as  have  private  corporations. 
Chicago,  unsuccessful  in  this  attempt  at  lighting  itself,  with  poor 
service  at  high  cost,  with  confessed  failure  in  this  small  enter- 
prise, does  not  think  of  assuming  ownership  and  operation  of  the 
great,  complex,  detailed  and  successful  street  railway  system. 

From  the  time  the  village  owns  its  first  town  pump,  the  sup- 
plying of  plenty  of  pure  water  is  a  civic  function  and  a  munici- 
pal responsibility,  Chicago,  with  a  great  fresh-water  lake,  a 
good  harbor  and  a  level  territory,  ought  to  give  service  second  to 
none.  But  the  Chicago  system  is  a  great  patchwork,  with  worn- 
out  pumping  works  and  carelessly  constructed  extensions  requir- 
ing special  assessments  for  work,  which  ought  to  be  paid  for  out 
of  profits.  What  service  does  it  give  ?  No  building  gets  water 
above  the  second  floor  except  during  certain  hours  in  the  morn- 
ing. All  the  larger  buildings  must  have  their  own  roof-tanks. 
The  people  southwest  of  the  stock  yards  complain  that  they  often 


—  33  — 

cannot  get  water  at  all.  The  water  that  people  do  get  is  abomi- 
nable, Six  million  gallons  daily  are  pumped  from  an  old  intake 
at  68th  street  which  ends  at  a  spot  where  there  is  contamination 
nearly  all  the  time.  Says  the  last  health  report :  "The  city  water 
is  usable  but  19  per  cent  of  the  time,'7  Truly  this  service  is  dear 
at  any  price.  Yet  Chicago  for  poor  water  charges  $8.50  for  the 
same  amount  of  water  which  New  York,  with  its  expensive 
Croton  aqueduct,  charges  $8.00.  As  ex- Alderman  Kent  says, 
"If  the  city  ran  the  street  railways  and  charged  proportionately 
it  would  have  to  charge  an  eight-cent  fare."  The  water  works 
department  is  under  Superintendent  JSTourse,  admitted  by  all  to 
be  an  efficient  man.  The  employes  are  appointed,  removed  and 
promoted  on  the  basis  of  efficiency.  Yet  this  tremendous  failure 
exists,  and  why  ?  For  the  reason  that  a  city  has  never  yet  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  the  same  grade  of  service,  the  same  efficiency ; 
the  same  effectiveness  per  unit  labor,  as  a  private  company,  be- 
cause no  city  has  yet  been  able,  nor  will  it  be,  till  Bellamy's  ideal 
is  a  reality,  to  do  work,  to  conduct  enterprises  as  successfully,  as 
economically,  and  as  satisfactory  as  do  private  corporations.  A 
city  that  has  so  misused  its  opportunities  and  so  miserably  failed 
iii  one  of  a  city's  first  functions,  must  not  and  does  not  think  of 
owning  and  operating  an  .enterprise  far  larger  and  more  intri- 
cate, and  not  within  the  lines  of  municipal  function  at  all. 

Equally  important  with  good  water,  are  fairly  well  paved  and 
reasonably  clean  streets.  Yet  Chicago's  streets  are,  in  the  words 
of  a  prominent  business  man,  "The  dirtiest  and  worst  paved  on 
earth."  Less  than  one-half  of  her  streets  are  paved  at  all,  and  of 
the  1,000  odd  miles  paved  the  street  car  companies  have  paved 
over  900  miles  to  the  width  of  eight  feet.  Chicago  pays  exorbitant 
prices  for  its  city  paving,  and  its  pavements  are  largely  wooden. 
And,  in  spite  of  the  proven  failure  of  wooden  blocks  for  large 
cities,  50  per  cent,  of  the  new  contracts  are  for  wooden  pave- 
ments. Says  the  Civic  Federation  report:  "Hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  dollars  have  been  wasted  in  poor  paving."  Says  Com- 
missioner of  Public  Works  McGann :  "Many  of  Chicago's  most 
important  streets  are  almost  impassable."  Commissioner  Mc- 
Oa.nn  has  proven  his  efficiency  in  private  business.  The  employes 
in  his  department  are  employed  on  the  basis  of  efficiency  only. 
He  is  absolutely  honest,  and  every  man  in  his  department  is  there 
because  he  can  do  the  work.  Yet  why  these  radical  defects  ? 
Simply  because  the  world  over,  under  even  most  perfect  civil 
service,  where  all  appointments,  removals  and  promotions  are 
for  efficiency  only,  no  such  efficiency  is  ever  obtained  by  a  city 


as  by  a  great  private  company.  No  such  failures  were  ever  dis- 
covered in  the  private  enterprises  conducted  by  Mr.  McGann. 
The  fact  simply  is,  that  a  city  has  never  yet  commanded  the 
same  quality  of  service,  the  same  efficiency  per  unit  labor  as  have 
private  corporations.  Chicago's  streets  are  worse  cleaned  than 
paved,  in  fact,  many  are  never  cleaned.  Says  the  last  Health 
Department  report,  speaking  of  the  19th  ward :  "Their  thorough- 
fares are  polluted  to  the  last  degree  with  matter  of  the  vilest 
description."  The  business  men  on  many  of  the  most  important 
business  streets  have  had  their  streets  cleaned  at  their  own  expense. 
It  simply  had  to  be  done.  In  the  words  of  a  prominent  business 
man,  "The  pavements  are  filthier  than  at  any  time  during  the 
last  fifteen  months."  And  this  condition  of  affairs  must  con- 
tinue. Of  the  $550,000  appropriated  six  months  ago  for  this 
year,  more  than  has  ever  been  appropriated,  excepting  for  the 
World's  Fair  year,  there  remains  but  $90,600  for  the  next  six 
months,  and  these  the  months  of  dirt  and  snow  and  slush.  Such 
management  is  the  inevitableconcoinitantof  city  control.  Theonly 
parts  of  the  streets  kept  fairly  clean  and  clear  of  snow  are  the 
parts  cared  for  by  the  street  car  companies.  The  companies  actu- 
•  ally  spend  more  money  on  their  snow  removal  than  the  city  does. 
The  street  department  is  under  Superintendent  Doherty,  admitted- 
ly an  efficient  man.  He  has  been  highly  successful  in  private  busi- 
ness. As  soon  as  he  entered  his  office  ho  discharged  the  men  who 
were  pilfering  street  funds,  and  all  his  appointments,  promo- 
tions and  removals  have  been  made  with  efficiency  in  mind,  and 
for  efficiency  only.  Yet  the  department  is  a  failure.  What  cause 
for  such  a  state  of  affairs?  Would  this  department,  with  Super- 
intendent Doherty  at  its  head  as  owner,  be  run  in  this  way  ? 
Would  a  private*  company  consider  for  a  single  moment  that 
this  wras  the  best  that  it  could  do?  Gentlemen,  a  city  has  never 
proven  its  capacity  to  procure  efficiency  per  unit  of  labor  at  all 
comparable  with  that  obtained  by  private  companies,  and  that, 
gentlemen,  that  is  the  root  of  the  matter.  Chicago  has  failed  in 
electric  lighting,  in  water-works,  in  street-paving  and  street- 
cleaning.  These  departments  are  all  under  men  who  have  proven 
their  capacity  in  private  business,  whose  records  are  clean  and 
whose  appointments  have  been  honestly  made.  The  civil  service 
in  these  departments  is  admitted  satisfactory.  Writes  the  presi- 
dent of  the  civil  service  commission :  "Of  the  9,000  men  em- 
ployed, 8,941  were  appointed  under  strict  civil  service  rules." 
Attacks  such  as  have  been  made  upon  the  Cook  county  civil 
service  under  which  the  police  are  appointed  have  not  been 


—  35  — 

and  cannot  be  made  upon  the  service  in  these  departments. 
The  mayor  himself  says  that  the  strictness  of  civil  service  has 
cost  his  party  some  of  the  foreign  vote.  Yet  these  depart- 
ments are  most  unsuccessful  and  unsatisfactory  as  far  as 
results  go.  Their  'efficiency  and  quality  of  service  is  not  to 
be  compared  with  the  efficiency  and  service  in  any  of  Chicago's 
as  well  as  has  private  business.  The  unit  of  labor  obtained  by  a 
government  has  never  equaled  in  efficiency  that  obtained  by  pri- 
vate companies.  Upon  the  correctness  of  this  proposition  largely 
rests  the  validity  of  the  conclusion  that  Chicago  should  not 
undertake  the  ownership  and  operation  of  a  business  so  intricate, 
so  complex,  so  tremendous,  as  the  largest  street  railway  in  the 
world.  Compare  the  efficiency  obtained  by  any  government  with 
that  obtained  by  private  firms.  The  clerical  force  at  Washing- 
ton, under  thorough  civil  service,  with  the  service  in  large  busi- 
ness houses.  The  United  States  Printing  Department,  and  its 
notoriously  bad  work  with  the  service  rendered  by  Holt  &  Co. 
or  McClurg.  You  know  the  facts,  gentlemen.  Take  a  case 
more  nearly  allied  to  street  railways.  Government  railroads 
under  a  good  civil  service.  In  France,  according  to  the  Annales 
Industrivlles,  the  government  railroads  can  furnish  nothing  to 
compare:  with  the  freight  and  passenger  service  in  the  United 
States.  In  Germany,  with  all  promotions,  removals  and  appoint- 
ments on  the  basis  of  efficiency,  the  serviced  does  not  begin  to-  com- 
pare with  that  of  our  own  Chicago  and  North-westerns,  Pennsyl- 
vanias  and  Burlingtons.  Even  taking  into  consideration  differ- 
ence in  density  of  population,  the  service  pe-r  capita  in  Germany 
is  but  one-third  that  in  the  United  States.  The  Archive  fiir 
Eisenbahnwesen  docs  not  attempt  to  hide  the  fact.  Lines  have 
not  been  wisely  extended,  station  and  station  yards  are  unfitted 
to  deal  with  the  increased  traffic,  the  permanent  Avay  is  out  of 
date,  and  the  rolling  stock  is  not  only  old-fashioned,  but  also  in- 
adequate in  quantity.  The  servants  are  mere  cogs  in  a  machine, 
the  government,  Nothing  more  is  asked  of  them  than  that  they 
do  their  work  in  the  same  listless,  routine  fashion  that  character- 
izes most  employes  of  a  government.  But  coming  still  closer, 
compare  similar  enterprises.  The  service  in  Glasgow  with  that 
in  Chicago  as  discussed  by  my  colleague.  The  service  on  the 
Glasgow  municipal  road  which  runs  011  the  surface  and  charges 
as  high  as  six  cents  with  the  subway  service  of  the  Glasgow  Dis- 
trict Subway  Co.,  a  private  corporation  charging  but  four  cents 
for  the  same  service.  Based  on  Economist  and  Glasgow  tram- 
way's report  statistics  taking  into  consideration  difference  in 


—  36  — 

mileage,  the  efficiency  of  street  railway  labor  in  Chicago  is  2.4. 
times  that  on  the  municipal  road  in  Glasgow.  Says  Robert 
Porter,  chief  of  the  llth  Census,  who  spent  several  years  study- 
ing European  street  railway  systems,  "A  study  of  the  Glasgow 
tramways  is  one  of  the  clearest  exemplifications  on  record  of  the 
incapacity  of  a  city  to  deal  as  thoroughly  with  such  undertakings 
as  do  private  corporations.''  The  incapacity  of  a  city  to  deal 
as  do  private  corporations.  The  incapacity  of  a  city  to  deal  as 
thoroughly  with  such  undertakings  as  do  private  corporations." 
And  this,  gentlemen,  is  our  basic  proposition. 

There  is  another  and  equally  strong  reason  why  Chicago 
should  not  extend  her  functions,  enlarge  her  administrative 
duties  and  dissipate  her  energies.  She  needs  all  the  energy  she 
has,  all  the  ingenuity  procurable,  all  the  strength  she  can  sum- 
mon, to  throw  off  the  present  incubus  of  corruption  in  city  gov- 
ernment. Her*  assessment  system  is  a  palpable  farce.  With  an 
actual  valuation  of  $2,000,000,000,  the  assessed  valuation  is 
but  $230,000,000,  $100,000,000  lower  than  it  was  twenty-five 
years  ago.  Men  pay  the  assessor  more  that  they  may  pay  the 
city  less.  And  this  assessment  is  most  unfairly  and  inequitably 
laid.  Look  at  this  table. 

Table  showing  inequality  oj  assessment  in  Chicago. 

HIGH.  BUSINESS   HOUSES. 


James  Clow 

Pr.  ct. 
16  37 

i  Horatio  May  

Pr.  ct. 
3.98 

Hannah  &   Hogg 

15  46 

Studebaker  Bros  

3.98 

Chas   T  Yerkes 

15  80 

I  L.  Z.  Leiter  

5.56 

John  McGill 

20  10 

Potter  Palmer  

7.40 

Walter  Peck 

16  19 

1  Henrv  Ziegel  

4.50 

Average  Value,  *886.96.                 RESIDENCES. 

Average  Value,  *19O,867. 

• 

401  S   Lincoln  St  

Pr.  ct. 
27.59 
56.00 
22.00 
30 
24 

1-5 
87-102 
2124 
2715 
361-365 

Lake  Shore  Drive  .  . 
Lake  Shore  Drive.  . 
Michigan  Avenue.  . 
Michigan  Avenue.  . 
La  Salle     . 

Pr.  ct. 
5.67 
5.54 
4.56 
4  00 
4.86 

6912  S.  Sangarnon  

808  Crawford 

1770  W.  Chicago  
385  Central  Park  

one  of  a  government's  first  problems,  "Fair  taxation."  Says  the 
Times-Herald,  "The  system  is  systematized  crime  against  the 
poor."  Says  F.  H.  Cooper  of  Siegel  &  Cooper,  "There  is  one 
day  on  which  we  respectable  business  men  commit  perjury.  That 
is  the  day  we  make  returns  to  the  assessor."  A  city  which  is  con- 


UN 


—  37  — 


fronted  with  such  utter  lack  of  moral  responsibility  in  many  of 
its  business  men,  which  lacks  funds,,  not  because  it  has  insuffi- 
cient sources  of  revenue,  but  because  assessor  and  assessed  com- 
bine to. rob  the  city  has  good  present  need  for  all  the  energies  it 
can  summon.  Dishonesty  and  partisanship  have  crept  into  the 
Park  boards.  Treasurer  Dreyer  of  the  West  Park  board  was 
convicted  and  sentenced  only  last  summer  for>  malfeasance  in  of- 
fice. Partisanship  has  vitiated  the  non-partisan  character  of  the 
boards.  Snpt.  of  Schools  Andrews  is  now  fighting  the  suppos- 
edly non-partisan  school  board  because  of  their  purely  partisan 
appointments.  The  police  are  not  appointed  under  good  civil 
service,  and  in  the  words  of  last  year's  investigating  committee, 
are  used  not  so  much  for  the. protection  of  life  and  property  as 
for  the  protection  of  all  kinds  of  vice.  Chicago's  experience  has 
shown  that  dishonesty  and  partisanship  will  creep  into  and  grow 
upon  any  board  and  commission  however  non-partisan  their  ap- 
pointment. Give  the  street  railway  receipts  into  the  hands  even 
of  a  supposedly  non-partisan  board,  let  a  Chicago  commission 
control  the  vast  street  railway  moneys  with,  all  the  temptations 
existing  and  there  will  be  re-enacted  on  a  far  more  stupendous 
scale  the  tragedy  of  the  Philadelphia  gas  trust. 

You  know  of  Chicago's  sudden  growth  and  the  inevitably  at- 
tendant confusion,  waste,  lack  of  foresight  and  chance  of  rob- 
bery. Bear  in  mind  Chicago's  enormous  foreign  vote.  Re- 
member Chicago's  lack  of  administrative  and  economic  exper- 
ience. Consider  the  absorption  of  her  business  men  in  their 
private  enterprises,  and  that  the  withdrawal  of  their  influence 
has  given  the  city  into  the  hands  of  the  lower  classes.  Recall  the 
tremendous  powrer  of  the  saloon  in  politics.  Consider  the  great 
prizes  for  dishonest  officials,  the  opportunities  for  blackmail  and 
the  tempting  and  unrestricted  chance  to  feed  at  the  public  crib 
and  you  have  the  explanation  not  only  why  corruption  is  possible, 
but  why  it  does  exist.  The  thugs  have  been  allowed  to  hold  Chi- 
cago helpless  while  the  thieves  have  robbed  her.  When: 
justice  must  be  bought  and  a  premium  is  placed  on  con- 
viction, when  breaches  of  the  gambling  law  are  openly  en- 
couraged by  the  police,  when  the  worst  alderman  can  con- 
trol the  council  committees  and  himself,  without  protest, 
be  chairman  of  the  most  important,  then,  in  the  words 
of  Franklin  McVeagh,  "The  government  of  Chicago  is  indeed 
a  deep  disgrace  to  republican  institutions."  When  assessors  get 
fabulously  rich  in  one  term,  when  an  alderman  can,  unanswered, 
proclaim  the  police  not  only  as  corrupt  but  as  vicious,  when  the 


—  38  — 

mayor  of  this  great  city  openly  attacks  the  civil  service  because 
its  success  hurts  his  party,  then  the  evil  is  indeed  deep-rooted. 
When  the  millionaires  on  Wabash  avenue  band  together  to  ob- 
tain an  enormous  sum  for  their,  names  to  a  petition,  when  John 
Hill,  the  reformer,  promises  Harlem  race-track  freedom  from  at- 
tack in  return  for  the  program  and  bar-concessions,  when  John 
Harlan,  as  attorney  for  the  Ferris  Wheel  company,  has  an  ordi- 
nance, allowing  his  client  to  sell  liquor  in  a  prohibition  district, 
passed  over  the  mayor's  veto  by  a  council,  the  majority  of  which 
were  hostile  to  Harlan,  when  these  business  men  are  too  busy  to 
see  that  government  is  good  and  too  corrupt  to  wish  it  pure,  then 
the  evil  is  truly  widespread  and  lies  in  the  upper  as  well  as  in 
the  lower  classes.  As  long  as  Chicago's  respectable  business 
men  perjure  themselves  to  the  assessor  and  blackmail  corpora- 
tions and  are  as  criminally  careless  as  they  have,  been,  so  long 
will  Chicago's  character  not  only  be  her  greatest  problem,  but 
it  will  also  be  absolutely  prohibitive  of  any  increase  in  civic 
functions.  In  the  words  of  Editor  Kohlsaat,  "Chicago  need-  a 
little  more  municipal  honesty  before  municipal  ownership." 
And,  gentlemen,  this  is  our  second  proposition.  To  put  the 
great  street  railway  system  into  these  conditions  would,  in  the, 
words  of  Mayor  Harrison,  create  a  great  office-holding  class  even 
under  the  concession.  It  would  also  result  in  the  most  stupen- 
dous reign  of  corruption  that  Chicago  has  ever  witnessed.  ( 1hi- 
cago  has  to  retrieve  her  failures  in  electric  lighting,  in  water- 
works, in  street-paving  and  street-cleaning,  in  revenue  collecting 
and  business  management.  Her  government  must  be  purified 
from  within.  Her  citizens  must  be  taught  that  he  who  robs  the 
city  is  as  much  a  thief  as  he  who  robs  his  neighbor.  These  then 
are  Chicago's  problems  and  they  are  far  from  solution.  Such 
rashly  radical  action,  such  stupendous  experimentation  as  the 
negative  propose  will  merely  aggravate  these  evils.  We  believe 
that  if  Chicago  is  not  over-burdened  and  is  judiciously  di- 
rected by  legislative  control,  she  will  eventually  solve  her 
problems.  But  the  worst  possible  way  to  remove  her  present 
difficulties  is  to  give  her  another  and  far  greater  problem.  Chi- 
cago has  failed  in  her  important  civic  duties ;  she  has  these  fail- 
ures yet  to  overcome.  She  has  failed  in  comparatively  small, 
simple  and  strictly  municipal  functions.  She  herself  does  not 
desiro  to  undertake  the  tremendous  experiment  of  owning  and 
operating  the  great  street  railway  system.  The  assumption  of 
such  a  system,  spending  over  $1,000,000  a  year  more  than  the 
city  itself  does,  employing  12,000  men  directly  and  many  thou- 


—  39  — 

sands  more  indirectly  and  representing  an  investment  of  over 
$100,000,130,  will  double  Chicago's  duties,  complicate  her  ad- 
ministration and  tremendously  increase  the  opportunity  and 
temptation  for  corruption.  It  would  immeasurably  hurt  her  in 
transit  facilities.  It  would  lower  the  status  of  the  street  rail- 
way system  to  the  condition  of  the  city  water-works,  lighting  and 
street-cleaning  systems.  It  would  bring  street  railway  service 
that  is  now  the  best  in  the  world,  down  to  the  present  low  level 
of  city  service.  Gentlemen,  remember :  First,  that  no  city  has 
ever  obtained  as  good  service,  as  high  efficiency  per  unit  labor  as 
have  private  corporations.  The  logic  of  that  proposition  is  ab- 
solutely against  the  assumption  by  the  city  of  Chicago  of  the 
greatest  street  railway  system  in  the  world.  And  second,  that 
Chicago  has  failed  in  small,  simple  and  strictly  municipal  func- 
tions, that  she  is  confronted  by  great  present  difficulties,  that 
she  needs  all  her  energies  for  the  solution  of  her  present  prob- 
lems. 


WARREN  M.  PERSONS,  PHILOMATHIA. 


The  affirmative  claim  that  the  report  of  the  special  committee 
from  Massachusetts  is  opposed  to  municipal  ownership  of  street 
railways  and  in  favor  of  private  ownership.  The  tenor  of  the 
report  throughout  is  opposed  to  the  present  system.  On  page 
20,  the  report  says :  "The  term  franchise  here,  too,  has  been 
productive  of  dissension,  poor  service,  scandals  and  unhealthy 
political  action.'7 

Again,  on  page  27,  the  report  says  of  the  present  system: 
" While,  because  of  its  apparent  simplicity,  as  well  as  from  the 
analogy  of  the  steam  railroad,  it  naturally  suggested  itself  in 
the  early  experimental  stages  of  street  railway  development,  it 
certainly  does  not  now  commend  itself  as  a  permanent  or  scien- 
tific arrangement/'  And  finally,  on  page  28,  the  committee 
declares :  "The  system  of  private  ownership  of  street  rail- 
ways *  *  *  is  not,  however,  that  which  commends  itself, 
in  theory  at  least,  to  the  judgment  of  the  committee."  They 
conclude  that  private  ownership  should  be  superseded  by  the 
municipal  ownership  of  tracks,  and  as  soon  as  the  civil  service 
condition  of  our  question  can  operate  they  would  advocate  mu- 
nicipal operation. 

Again,  the  affirmative  would  lead  you  to  believe  that  the 
Civic  Federation  and  the  people  of  Chicago  are  opposed  to  such 
a  change.  Although  mere  expression  of  opinion  means  but  little, 
I  will  read  you  from  a  few  loiters  written  by  some  of  the  men 
who,  they  claim,  denounce  municipal  ownership. 

From  George  E.  Cole,  April  20,  1S98 : 

"And  all  the  best  thought  of  the  present  time,  both  speculative 
and  practical,  concedes  that  tho  ultimate  solution  must  be  mu- 
nicipal ownership." 

From  John  V.  Farwell,  April  18,  IROfi  : 

"If  'all  appointments,  promotions  and  removals  shall  be  made 
on  the  basis  of  efficiency,'  it  would  certainly  be  preferable  to 
have  street  railway  lines  under  municipal  ownership  and  opera- 
tion." 

From  R.  M.  Easley,  Secretary  Civic  Federation,  April  18, 
1898: 

"Under  tho  conditions  of  your  question,  no  one  would  be 
against  the  proposition,  excepting  the  radical  individualist." 


—  41  — 

The  recent  report  by  the  special  committee  from  the  Chicago 
City  Council  was  denounced  as  biased.  The  affirmative  do  this 
simply  because  the  report  favors  our  system.  All  the  conclusions 
drawn  in  this  report  are  taken  from  certified  reports  of  the 
companies,  and  every  statement  made  is  based  upon  certain  au- 
thority. 

We  do  not  deny  that  the  city  of  Chicago  is  divided  into  three 
sections,  but  we  do  deny  that  this  is  any  reason  for  the  lack  of 
transfers.  You  will  notice  that  the  terminii  of  all  the  roads  is 
on  the  same  side  of  the  river,  so  the  reason  given  is  invalid.  As 
for  the  demand  for  transfers,  any  one  acquainted  with  the  con- 
ditions of  the  city  will  know  that  there  is  a  continual  petition 
for  their  increase.  Says  the  Harlan  report,  on  page  10:  "This 
important  matter  (the  arrangements  of  routes)  is  not  to-day,  and 
never  has  been,  subject  to  supervision  and  direction  on  the  part 
of  the  city.  The  consequence  is  that  many  car  routes  are  ar- 
ranged in  such  a  manner  that  they  involve,  for  short  distances, 
double  fares  and  needless  breaks  in  transit."  On  page  73  :  aThe 
most  obvious  defect,  as  regards  transfer  privileges  in  general, 
consists  in  the  fact  that  no  passenger  can  ride  from  any  given 
point  outside  of  the  business  center  of  the  city,  through  the  busi- 
ness center  to  some  point  011  the  other  side  of  it  without  paying 
two  fares.  *  ":f  *  This  condition  has  come  about,  not  from  the 
demands  of  traffic  or  of  tKe  city  council,  but  in  spite  of  both, 
and  simply  as  an  incident  of  the  position  which  the  companies 
have  made  as  between  themselves  of  the  street  railway  business, 
a  division  which  has  treated  the  city  as  if  it  were  three  separate 
cities  with  a  common  business  center,  instead  of  one  compact  and 
unified  city." 

Furthermore,  they  claim  that  employes  under  government 
control  are  not  and  cannot  be  as  efficient  as  those  under  private 
management.  Let  us  exa,mine  this  proposition  first  as  to  its 
theory,  and,  second,  as  to  practical  examples.  Why  is  the  em- 
ploye efficient  under  private  management?  Simply  because  it 
is  for  his  interest  to  be  so.  The  employe  is  promoted  for  effi- 
ciency. But  notice,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  that  our  question 
declares  that  this  shall  bo  the  state  of  things  undeir  the  system 
of  the  negative,  "All  appointments,  promotions  and  removals 
shall  be  made  on  the  basis  of  efficiency  only."  We  will  obtain 
efficiency  by  making  it  to  the  advantage  of  the  employe  to  be 
efficient.  The  post  office  is  a  familiar  example  of  efficient  em- 
ployes in  the  government  service.  Another  example  is  the 
Brooklyn  Bridge  Railway,  under  municipal  control.  The  em- 


- 


—  42  — 

ployes  of  this  system  are  claimed  by  the  board  of  trustees  to  be 
most  efficient  and  faithful. 

But  we  can  find  examples  in  Chicago  itself.  The  water  works, 
fire  department  and  lighting  department  are  admirably  man- 
aged. Says  Mr.  Ellicott,  of  the  electric  lighting  department: 
"The  personnel  of  our  municipal  force  is  equal  to  that  of  any 
private  plant.  The  employes  under  our  rules  are  eminently 
efficient." 

Again,  Honorable  Jurors,  you  cannot  exaggerate  the  corrupt 
condition  in  Chicago  brought  about  by  the  street  railway  corpora- 
tions. The  corrupt  history  of  Chicago  can  only  be  explained 
by  some  powerful  motive  to  corrupt  the  council.  There  must 
be  something  to  gain,  or  there  would  be  no  bribery.  The  pres- 
ence of  the  street  railway  corporations  with  their  interests  in 
the  public's  streets  explains  the  condition  of  the  Chicago  gov- 
ernment. As  long  as  the  conflict  of  interests  between  the  private 
company  and  the  municipality  is  present,  so  long  will  we  have 
corruption. 

My  colleague  has  shown  you  the  street  railway  status  in  Chi- 
cago. He  has  shown  a  large  number  of  lines  under  the  manage- 
ment of  separate  corporations,  -exchanging  no  transfers,  result- 
ing in  great  general  inconvenience  and  public  dissatisfaction. 
Secondly,  he  has  shown  that  vast  financial  interests  are  involved 
and  that  the  street  railway  business  is  dependent  for  legal  exist- 
ence upon  the  city  of  Chicago.  From  these  conditions  he  has 
traced  their  baleful  effect  upon  the  moral  integrity  of  the  city 
officials,  upon  the  state  legislature  of  Illinois,  upon  the  people  of 
Chicago  and  of  the  whole  state. 

In  order  to  remove  thesr-  two  grr-at  evils  he  has  proposed  a  sys- 
tem of  municipal  ownership  and  operation.  He  has  proposed 
municipal  ownership  and  operation  to  you  as  the  most  expedient, 
the  best  measure  from  a  business  and  financial  point  of  view.  Is 
it  expedient,  is  it  best '(  Xo  such  proposition,  of  course,  should 
be  accepted  without  conclusive  evidence.  The  street  railway 
system  is  an  immense  one  and  its  value  is  enormous.  If  such  a 
step  were  taken  the  debt  of  ( 'hicago  would  be  second  only  to  that 
of  Xew  York  City,  a  debt,  we  admit,  not  to  be  assumed  without 
most  careful  and  serious  consideration.  Great  as  are  the  ad- 
vantages to  be  derived  from  municipal  ownership,  by  securing  a 
rapid  and  cheap  transportation  to  and  from  all  parts  of  the  city 
and  by  removing  municipal  corporations  yet,  we  admit,  such  a 
step  should  not  be  taken  before  we  know  that  we  are  following 
sound  business  principles. 


—  43  — 

At  the  outset  we  are  confronted  with  the  question  of  compen- 
sation. What  should  the  city  pay  the  corporations  for  their 
property?  In  our  question  we  are  conceded:  that  the  transfer 
can  legally  and  constitutionally  be  made  and  at  a  fair  compensa- 
tion. That  is,  it  is  conceded  that  the  relations  between  the  mu- 
nicipality and  the  street  railway  company  are  legally  severed 
and  that  the  city  shall  receive  the1  street  railway  properties  for  a 
fair  price. 

Obviously  the  amount  to  be  paid  must  be  determined  in  one 
of  three  ways:  (1)  By  par  value  of  securities,  or  (2)  by  market 
value  of  securities,  or  (3)  by  cost  of  duplicating  the  present 
tangible  property. 

in  the  course  of  my  debate  I  shall  show  you  how  each  one  of 
the  foregoing  items  is  constituted  and  so  determine  what  is  the 
trv.o  basis  of  compensation. 

In  determining  this,  because  of  a  difference  in  the  time  of  or- 
ganization and  in  the  method  of  financing  the  railway  companies 
of  Chicago,  we  may  divide  the  companies  into  three  groups: 

(1)  The  three  large  surface  lines. 

(2)  The  elevated  lines. 

(3)  The  minor  surface  lines. 

First,  then,  shall  the  compensation  for  the  three  main  lines  be 
par  value  of  securities  ? 

The  Chicago  city  railway  was  incorporated  in  1859.,  The 
horse-power  that  was  originally  used  was  later  changed  to  cable 
and  electric.  During  this  conversion  to  mechanical  power  the 
stocks  and  bonds  of  the  company  underwent  a  proportional  ex- 
pansion and  the  capitalization  of  this  road  today  represents  the 
accumulated  amounts  invested,  including  the  liabilities  of  the 
original  horse  road. 

Contemporaneously  railway  systems  were  formed  both  on  the 
north  and  west  sides.  In  1886,  C.  T.  Yerkes  and  associates 
acquired  control  of  these  railway  properties  and  franchises  and 
immediately  commenced  to  issue  securities  with  a  free  hand. 
For  instance,  they  issued  $15,000,000  stock  and  turned  the  en- 
tire amount  over  to  the  United  States  Construction  Co.,  com- 
posed of  Yerkes -and  associates,  for  cable  construction,  which, 
according  to  Mr.  Yerkes'  own  statement  to  directors,  cost  much 
less.  According  to  the  Illinois  report,  the  Chicago  city  coun- 
cil report  and  Mr.  Frank  A.  Yanderlip,  assistant  secretary  of 
the  treasury  and  formerly  financial  editor  of  "The  Economist" 
and  "Tribune,"  this  construction  really  cost  less  than  $8,000,- 
000.  Surely  the  par  value  of  securities  is  no  criterion  of  the 
real  value  of  this  property. 


The  capitalization  of  these  three  lines  contains  the  total  se- 
curities issued  since  1859.  In  the  cases  of  the  Xorth  and  West 
side  system  Mr.  Yerkes,  by  his  own  admission,  issued  millions  of 
fictitious  securities. 

By  chart  Xo.  1  you  will  observe  that  the  average  liabilities  per 
mile  of  the  I^orth  and  West  sides  are  over  twice  as  great  as  the 
liabilities  of  the  South  side.  Just  a  simple  comparison  like 
this  shows  the  "water"  in  the  Xorth  and  West  side  systems.  But 
I  have  shown  that  even  the  capitalization  of  the  Chicago  city 
railway  represents  more  than  the  present  value  of  the  tangible 
property. 

CHART  No.  1. — Liabilities  per  mile  compared. 


Three  main  companies. 

Mileage 
in  city. 

Liability 
per  mile. 

Bonds  per 
mile. 

Chicago  City  Ry  Co  

189 

$87,600 

*  West  Chicago  St.  R.  R.  Co  

203 

154,696 

*  North  Chicago  St.  R  R.  Co  

86 

Iri9,020 

Minor  Companies. 
Calumet  Electric  

72 

48,734 

$41,791 

*  Chicago  &  Jefferson  Urban 

8 

286,493 

26,  753 

*  Chicago  Electric  Transit 

32 

79,  662 

33,650 

Chicago  General  Ry 

31 

51,936 

36,  063 

*  Chicago  North  Shore  Ry 

9 

88,333 

45,  000 

*  Cicero  &  Proviso  Ry 

7 

116,618 

50,  252 

Chicago  Electric  Traction 

11 

162,  790 

69,  767 

*  North  Chicago  Electric 

23 

12  ',  383 

35,  276 

*  North  Side  Electric 

7 

251,520 

23,556 

*  Ogden  Street  Ry 

12 

59.314 

16,  457 

South  Chicago  City  Ry     .         ... 

35 

90,  480 

44,657 

*  Evanston  Electric  

205,454 

23,636 

Hammond  &  Whiting  

17,454 

4,545 

Surburban  R.  R.  Co  

83,333 

41,666 

*  Under  Yerkes  control. 

Authority  1898,  Investment  Supplement  issued  by  Chicago  Economist  and  containing 
official  reports. 

Consider  for  a  moment  what  the  capitalization  of  these  com- 
panies would  be  if  all  the  capital  had  the  right  to  enter  into  the 
business;  that  is,  if  the  street,  railway  business  were  a  business 
open  to  competition.  Wherever  competition  enters  to  fix  the 
price  of  the  service,  the  plant  necessary  to  render  that  service  is 
worth,  not  what  it  costs,  but  what  it  can  be  replaced  for.  The 
legitimate  capitalization  of  the  street  railways,  therefore,  is  cost 
of  duplication  of  their  tangible  property.  Therefore  you  must 


—  45  — 

conclude  that  the  par  value  of  the  securities  of  the  first  group  of 
railways  is  not  fair  compensation  for  the  property  because  of  the 
over-capitalization. 

But  how  much  are  these  three  roads  over-capitalized  ? 

( 'hart  No.  2  gives  cost  of  duplication  of  the  three  large  sur- 
face systems.  The  figures  are  taken  from  the  official  report  of 
the  Illinois  labor  bureau  for  1897.  They  are  given  in  the  re- 
port as  the  maximum.  Land,  tunnels,  machinery,  equipment 
and  track,  cable;  and  electric,  are  taken  at  the  maximum.  They 
have  been  submitted  to  the  prominent  engineers  and  editors  of 
financial  papers  of  Chicago  and  have  their  unanimous  approval. 

The  present  capitalization  of  the  roads  is  taken  from  a  finan- 
cial journal  of  Chicago,  "The  Economist,7'  to  which  we  were  re- 
ferred by  Mr.  .X  agle,  manager  of  the  Chicago  city  railway,  as  be- 
ing official. 

In  the  first  column  are  the  total  stocks  and  bonds  of  the  com- 
panies, in  the  second  is  the  cost  of  duplication  of  each  road.  Tak- 
ing the  difference  between  the  two  we  get  $32,288,428  as  the 
ov*er-capitalization  of  the  three  companies. 

Now  let  us  turn  to  the  elevated  roads.  Should  the  city  pay 
the  par  value  of  their  securities  for  this  property  ? 

Says  Mr.  Vanderlip,  "The  history  of  the  elevated  railroads  in 
Chicago  offers  an  illustration  of  stock-watering  that  is  obscured 
by  no  complications.  At  no  time  was  it  ever  contemplated  to 
pay  one  dollar  of  cash  into  the  treasuries  of  the  companies  for 
this  $38,000,000  stock.  The  plan  followed  was  to  organize  a 
construction  company  of  the  same  promoters  to  build  the  road ; 
this  company  to  receive  all  the  stock  and  all  the  bonds  of  the  ele- 
vated railroad  company  in  payment.  This  simple  method  en- 
abled the  companies  to  evade  the  law,  and  contemplated  the  con- 
struction of  all  the  roads  from  the  proceeds  of  bonds  alone." 

In  order  to  show  the  over-capitalization  of  the  elevated  roads 
I  have  obtained  as  near  as  possible  the  actual  amounts  invested. 
The  figures  given  in  chart  No.  2  I  have  taken  on  authority  of 
Mr.  Payne,  financial  editor  of  the  "Economist,"  and  are  sup- 
ported by  the  editors  of  financial  publications,  as  well  as  by  en- 
gineers of  Chicago.  As  bonds  were  given  away  for  frontage 
consents,  bonuses,  etc.,  in  every  case  the  estimates  are  too  high. 
Even  according  to  these  maximum  estimates  we  find  the  over- 
capitalization to  be  $32,320,281. 

Surely  the  city  should  not  pay  the  elevated  companies  the  par 
value  of  such  securities. 

Finally  we  ask,  should  the  minor  railway  companies,  the  third 
group,  be  recompensed  for  the  par  value  of  their  securities  ? 


—46  — 


My  colleague  showed  to  von  that  these  feeder  lines  were  organ- 
ized by  Mr.  Yerkes  to  avoid  the  giving  of  transfers,  so  they  were 
financed  according  to  Yerkes'  methods.  The  roads  were  paid 
for  by  bond  issue,  and  in  order  to  make  the  bonds  marketable 
they  were  guaranteed  by  the  North  and  West  Chicago  street 
railways.  Says  Rand  McXally's  Bankers'  Monthly  :  "In  no 
case  does  their  large  capital  stock  represent  a  money  invest- 
ment." 

Let  us  compare  the  total  liabilities  per  mile. 

This  chart,  ]STo.  1,  gives  the  average  per  mile  of  bonds  and 
total  liabilities.  The  liabilities  range  from  $17,000  to  $286,000 
per  mile.  From  the  capitalization  of  any  line  it  is  impossible 
to  tell  what  the  actual  cost  of  the  property  was. 

In  Mason,  Lewis  &  Co/s  Investment  Supplement  for  Febru- 
ary, 1897,  we  find  that  according  to  a  letter  by  Mr.  1).  II.  Lou- 
derback,  president,  "The  nineteen  miles  of  the  Chicago  ^orth 
Shore  Street  Kail  way  company  cost  $35,  ±08  per  mile."  The 
Illinois  report  gives  $35,000  per  niilo  as  the  cost  of  the  dupli- 
cation of  these  roads.  This  estimate  has  IK-II  certified  to  bvr 


CHART  No.  2 —  Over  capitalization. 


Three  Main  Companies. 

Liabilities.1 

Cost  of  dup- 
lication.'-' 

Over  capi- 
talization. 

Chicago  City  Ry  

816,619,500 

$11,772,505 

West  Chic   St  R  R 

31,357,000 

13,384,889 

North  Chic  St   R  R 

15,351,000 

5,881,678 

Total  

$63,327,500 

$31,039,072 

$32,288,428 

Minor  ^surface  companies  

$21,617,318 

3$  8,  680,  000 

12,967,818 

Elevated  Companies: 
Lake  St  El   R.  R        

$15,902,000 

Amount 
invested.4 
$4,215,536 

Metropolitan  West  Side  El 

30,  000,  000 

15,863,800 

Union  Elevated  

9,212,000 

4,212,000 

Union  Consolidated  Elevated  .... 

1,407,000 

366,  SCO 

South  Side  Elevated  

11,073,800 

10,  616,  783 

Total  

$67,594,800 

$35,274,519 

32,  320,  281 

Grand  total  

$152,570,118 

$74,993,591 

$77,576,527 

1  lf>98,  Economist  Supplement. 

2  Illinois  State  Report,  1897,  page  54,  issued  by  Labor  Bureau. 

3  Minor  surface  roads  are  put  in  at  $35,000  per  mile,  see  Labor  Bareau  Rep.,  page  59. 

4  1893,  Economist  Supplemant  and  Mr.  Paine,  financial  editor. 


Chicago  authorities.     By  chart  Xo.  2  the  over-capitalization  of 
the  minor  roads  upon  this  basis  is  $12,907,818. 

Combining  the  figures  for  capitalization  for  all  the  lines  of 
Chicago  the  total  over-capitalization  is  $77,576,527.  It  is  clear 
from  this  and  from  the  preceding  argument  that  the  par  value  of 
securities  does  not  represent  the  investment  and  is  not  a  fair 
basis  for  compensation  for  these  properties. 

We  now  inquire  :  Is  the  market  value  of  the  securities  the  true 
basis  of  compensation  ?  What  gives  street  railway  securities 
their  market  value?  This  market  value  is  based  upon  two  ele- 
ments: (1)  the  tangible  property  of  the  company  representing 
the  investment,  and  (2)  the  expectation  of  future  profits  based 
on  the  exclusive  franchise  privilege.  It  is  evident  that  the  city 
should  pay  the  companies  the  value  of  their  tangible  property. 
Concession  Xo.  1  makes  it  legal  and  constitutional  for  the  city 
to  obtain  the  property  of  the  company,  thus  terminating  the 
legal  right  of  the  companies  to  the  streets.  The  question  then 
is :  Should  we  under  these  conditions  recompense  the  stock- 
holders for  the  expectation  of  future  profits  ? 

The  right  to  use  the  public  ways  was  granted  to  the  companies 
solely  for  the  convenience  and  in  the  interest  of  the  public.  The 
grant  of  a  location  to  a  corporation  was  made  for  the  accommo- 
dation of  the  community  and  not  as  a  gift  or  private  privilege 
to  the  corporation.  Shall  the  interests  of  a  few  stockholders  bo 
considered  in  opposition  to  the  interests  of  the  public?  Any 
money  that  was  invested  in  street  railway  stock  was  invested  as 
a  speculation  and  the  city  is  not  responsible  to  the  speculator. 
Says  Kdward  M.  Winston  in  a  letter  of  November  27th,  1898: 
"In  Chicago  the  street  car  companies  have'  made  large  profits 
and  therefore  have  no  right,  moral  or  legal,  that  any  other  cap- 
able company  would  not  have,  and  the  city  is  bound  to  consider 
public  welfare  only.  Of.  course  the  convenience  of  the  com- 
panies should  be  consulted  in  everything  that  does  not  involve 
loss  or  harm  to  the  public." 

Upon  this  reasoning  then  that  the  corporations,  by  concession 
1,  have  no  legal  claim  to  the  streets  and  that  the  street  railway 
is  for  the  convenience  of  the  public,  the  city  should  pay  the  cost 
of  duplication  of  the  property  it  receives  and  not  the  market 
value  of  the  companies'  securities. 

We  are  supported  in  these  conclusions  by  many  authorities. 
The  city  of  Philadelphia  early  recognized  this  principle  by  pass- 
ing a  law  with  the  following  provision:  "The  city  of  Philadel- 
phia reserves  the  right  at  any  time  to  purchase  the  street  railway 


—  48  — 


property,  by  paying  the  original  costs  of  said  roads  and  cars  at  a 
fair  valuation.77 

,  Justice  Brewer  in  the  case  of  National  Waterworks  Co.  vs. 
Kansas  City  (62  Fed.,  853)  decided  that  the  fair  value  to  be 
paid  by  the  city  is  not  market  value  of  securities,  but  value  of 
tangible  property. 

England  has  a  law  empowering  cities  to  purchase  railways 
'-Upon  terms  of  paying  the  then  value  of  the  tramway  (exclusive 
of  any  allowance^for  past  or  future  profits  of  the  undertaking,  or 
any  compensation  for  compulsory  sale,  or  other  consideration 
whatsoever  )." 

Similar  provisions  are  in  the  charters  of  Xew  York,  Toronto, 
Montreal  and  many  other  cities,  and  it  cannot  be  doubted  that 
cost  of  duplication  is  fair  compensation. 

But  the  affirmative  may  still  ask,  Will  this  investment  be  a 
paying  one  for  the  city  ?  The  only  way  in  which  this  question 
can  be  answered  is  by  the  earnings  of  the  property  in  the  past. 
My  colleague  will  establish  that  our  municipal  operation  is  even 
more  efficient  than  present  private  operation.  Chart  No.  3 

CH  RT  No.  3— Three  roads  paid  for  in  eight  years. 


Annual 
surplus. 

Accumulated 
at  3J£  per  cent, 
compound 
interest. 

1890.. 

$2,657,183 

1891  

3,  134,  151 

$5,  884,  335 

1892            

3,711,093 

9,801,380 

1893  

5,449,087 

15,593,515 

1891  

3,246,774 

19,386,082 

1895 

3  866,204 

23  930  799 

1896.. 

3,869,949 

28,638,826 

1897  

4,237,926 

33,878,593 

Eight  years  surplus 

$33,878,593 

Cost  of  dup.  1898     

31,039,072 

Remainder          ... 

$2,  839,  521 

*  Taken  from  companies,  official  report  published  in  1898,  by  W.  K.  Ackerman. 

shows  the  net  receipts  of  the  three  main  surface  lines  from  1890 
to  1897  inclusive,  the  surplus  for  each  year  computed  according 
to  plan  shown  in  chart  ISTo.  4.  From  the  reports  of  the  com- 
panies, whose  correctness  is  certified  to  by  the  respective  officials, 


—  49 


I  have  taken  the  gross  receipts,  operating  expenses,  taxes,  insur- 
ance and  depreciation.  Since,  by  the  authority  of  the  foremost 
bond  houses  and  banks  of  Chicago  the  city  can  issue  bonds  at 
three  and  one-half  per  cent,  to  pay  for  the  system,  that  percent- 
age is  figured  as  interest  for  each  year  on  the  cost  of  duplication. 
Subtracting  the  gross  expenditures  from  the  gross  receipts  we 
obtain  the  net  return.  Accumulating  these  yearly  returns  at  the 
same  percentage,  you  see  that  these  three  roads  will  have  entirely 
paid  for  themselves  after  allowing  for  all  charges  in  less  than 
eight  years.  Would  this  be  a  ruinous  investment  for  the  city? 

CHART  No.  ^.—  Method  of  obtaining  yearly  income. 
Income  of  three  main  companies  for  1896. ! 


*  Cost  of  duplication  

$31,603,488 

2  Gross  receipts 

Expended. 

Receipts. 
811,741,524 

2  Operating  expense 

6,  509,  974 

2  Taxes,  insurance  and  depreciation 

255,481 

3  Interest  at  33>^  per  cent  on  cost  of  dup 

l,lU6,120 

Total  

87,871,575 

7,871,575 

Net  return  for  1896  

$3,  869,  949 

1  This  item  taken  from  I  linois  rep  rt,  page  54. 

2  These  items  taken  from  a  report  by  W   K.  Ackerman,   issued  in  1898,  by   the   street 
railway  companies  in  which  are  the  certified  reports  of  operation. 

3  This  item  on  authority  of  N.  W.  Harris,  Dewitt  &  Co.,  A.  O.  Slaughter  &  Co.,  bond 
dealers,  and  Comm.  Nat.  Banks,  and  editor  of  "  Bonds  and  Mortgages,"  and  others. 

But  would  the  elevated  roads  prove  a  good  investment  for  the 
city  ?  Chart  No.  5  gives  the  total  annual  surplus  on  basis  of 
present  earnings  from  the  combined  elevated  properties.  For 
each  ro'ad  the  surplus  is  obtained  as  shown  by  chart  No.  6.  The 
gross  receipts  are  taken  from  the  companies'  present  reports  of 
traffic.  Taxes,  operating  expenses,  insurance,  "etc.,  are  the  offi- 
cial figures  of  the  company  in  each  case. 

Interest  is  charged  as  before  at  three  and  one-half  per  cent,  on 
the  investment.  If  traffic  merely  remains  as  great  as  it  is  at 
present,  the  annual  surplus  to  the  city,  after  deducting  all  ex- 
penses and  charges  of  every  kind,  taxes,  special  assessments,  and 
three  and  one-half  per  cent,  interest  on  investment  is  $334,907. 

Lastly  the  income  of  the  minor  roads  must  be  ascertained. 
Since  only  three  of  these  companies  publish  reports,  the  income 
cannot  be  obtained  as  easily  as  from  the  large  lines.  But  for- 
tunately there  is  another  method  to  obtain  the  minimum  net  re- 
ceipts of  these  roads.  All  but  four  of  the  minor  lines  have  the 


—  50  — 


CHART  No.  5.—  Income  from  elevated  and  minor  lines. 


Elevated  Companies:  l 
South  Side  Elevated  

Deficit. 

Surplus. 
$120,  956 

Lake  Street  Elevated  

69,633 

Union  Elevated  

210,524 

Union  Con  Elevated 

6,105 

Metropolitan  West  Side  Elevated 

$72,311 

Net  surplus  

$334,  907 

Minor  Companies  2 

54,538 

Total  surplus  after  deducting  all  ex- 
penses and  31A  per  cent,  interest  . 

$389,  445 

1  Income  is  based  on  reports  of  traffic  given  in  the  "  Economist,"  as  follows : 
Daily  traffic : 

South  Side  Elevated,  60,000  people. 

Lake  Street  Elevated,  35,000  people. 

Union  Elevated  receives  rental  from  other  roads  and  thus  is  actual  rental 

received. 

Union  Con.  Elevated  receives  rental  from  Metropolitan  West  Side. 
Metropolitan  West  Side  Elevated,  70,000  people. 

3  Taken  from  companies'  re  ports  and  guaranteed  interest  as  given  in  '98  "  Economist," 
is  taken  as  the  minimum  net  income  where  there  are  no  reports. 


CHART  No.  6. — Method  of  obtaining  incomes  given  in  chart  No.  5. 
Income  of  South  Side  Elevated.1 


Daily  traffic,  60,000. 
For  year  —  21,900,000  at  5c  

Expenditures. 

Receipts. 
$1,095,000 

From  advertising  

30,000 

Total 

$1,125,000 

Taxes  

$27,657 

Loop  rental     

98,550 

Operating  expenses  and  insurance     

50t>,  250 

coo  4^:7 

Income  on  investment  

$492,  543 

Investment  —  $10,616,783. 
Interest  at  3^4  per  cent,  on  $lu,616,783  

371,587 

Net  surplus  

$120,956 

1  These  items  are  taken  from  1898  Economist  Supplement. 


K-J 

iJ  -L 

interest  on  bonds  and  in  one  case  a  six  per  cent,  dividend  on 
stock  guaranteed  by  the  Yerkes'  system.  And  Mr.  Yerkes 
stated  in  his  annual  report  to  the  North  Chicago  Street  Railroad 
Co.  :  kkThe  different  companies  for  whom  this  company  has 
guaranteed  bonds  are  now  earning  more  than  an  amount  suffi- 
cient, to  pay  their  fixed  charges,  so  that  the  guarantee  of  the 
company  costs  it  nothing."  Therefore,  in  these  cases,  I  have 
computed  the  actual  guaranteed  interest  on  stocks  and  bonds, 
which  is  the  minimum  net  income.  For  the  remaining  cases  I 
have  taken  the  officially  published  statements.  Subtracting 
from  this  income  three  and  one-half  per  cent,  on  the  cost  of  du- 
plication gives  the  annual  surplus  to  the  city  as  $54,538. 

Xow,  how  much  longer  upon  this  basis  will  it  take  the  city  to 
pay!  for  the  elevated  and  minor  lines. 

CHART  No.  7.  —  Six  years  more  to  pay  for  elevated  and  minor  roads. 

Sources: 
Remainder  from  chart  3  accumulated  at   3^  per    cent. 

for  6  years...  .......  .......................  ...........        $3,522,634 

Income  from  elevated  and  minor  roads  accumulated  at  3^ 

per  cent,  for  14  years  ..................................  6,  884,  216 

Income  from  3  main   companies  accumulated   at  31£  per 

cent,  for  6  years  ......................................         35,100,472 


Total  receipts  from  all  lines  in  6  years  after   surface 

roads  paid  for  ....................................       $45,  507,  322 

Amount  invested  in  minor  and  elevated  roads  ...........         43,  954,  519 

To  pay  for  all  Lines. 

Three  main  lines  paid  for  in  (by  chart  3)  ...................  8  years 

Elevated  and  minor  lines  paid  for  in  (by  chart  7)  ...........  6  years 

All  paid  for  in  ......................................  14  years 

Supposing  the  present  surplus  above  three  and  one-half  per. 
cent,  interest  on  investment  to  continue',  then  accumulating  the 
total  annual  surplus  of  all  roads  at  three  and  one-half  per  cent. 
compound  interest  as  before,  we  find  that  in  six  years  after  the 
three  main  surface  roads  have  paid  for  themselves,  the  whole  sys- 
tem surface  and  elevated  will  be  paid  out  of  earnings  alone.  Or, 
in  other  words,  if  the  city  of  Chicago  assumes  the  street  railway 
system  and  income  remains  absolutely  stationary,  the  whole  debt 
can  be  liquidated  from  profits  alone  in  at  most  fourteen  years. 
The  city  would  absolutely  own  a  property  worth  $75,000,000, 
and  it  could  either  reduce  fares  to  actual  cost,  a  condition  impos- 
sible under  the  present  system,  or  turn  the  annual  income  of 
$5,000,000'  to  the  common  good.  Surely  this  undertaking  in 


—  52  — 

the  light  of  facts  does  not  seem  rash  and  unbusinesslike,  espe- 
cially when  you  consider  that  we  are  guaranteed  a  business  sys- 
tem since  all  employees  and  officials  are  to  be  appointed  for  effi- 
ciency only. 

In  the  course  of  my  debate  I  have  shown  that  the  cost  of  du- 
plication of  tangible  property  is  the  fair  compensation  to  be  paid 
by  the  city. 

I  have  shown  the  annual  surplus  that  would  be  received  by 
the  city  above  all  charges  and  interest  on  the  amount  expended. 

I  have  shown  that  applying  these  profits  to  the  amount  in- 
vested, the  entire  debt  will  be  paid  in  fourteen  years. 

From  the  foregoing  facts  we  must  conclude  that  besides  re- 
moving many  evils  inherent  in  the  present  system,  municipal 
ownership  and  operation  of  the  Chicago  street  railways,  in  which 
"all  appointments,  promotions  and  removals  are  made  on  the 
basis  of  efficiency  only"  is  an  eminently  practical  and  business- 
like proposition. 


WM.  5.   KIES,  ATHENAE. 


Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  Worthy  Jurors : 

In  advocating  a  system  of  municipal  ownership  the  negative 
arc  bound  to  provide  for  its  administration  and  government. 
Their  argument  has,  however,  been  thus  far  purely  theoretical. 
They  have  not  attempted  to  show  how  their  system  will  work  in 
actual  practice;  they  have  presented  no  scheme  for  its  adminis- 
tration and  government.  In  order  to  prove  municipal  owner- 
ship advisable  for  Chicago,  they  should  show  its  success  else- 
where. The  six  or  eight  cities  in  Europe,  with  their  antiquated 
horse-car  lines,  and  a  total  combined  mileage  of  hardly  one-tenth 
that  of  the  city  of  Chicago  can  hardly  be  cited  as  successful  exam- 
ples of  municipalization.  An  analysis  of  the  rose-colored  reports 
of  these  European  successes  (2)  shows,  however,  that  when 
proper  allowances  are  made  for  depreciation,  interest,  and  other 
fixed  charges ;  when  fares  are  considered  in  relation  to  service 
and  distances,  and  when  tho  differences  in  conditions  are  taken 
into  account,  the  shewing1  made  would  be  considered  as  disgrace- 
ful by  the  average  American  company. 

It  is  always  incumbent  upon  the  advocates  of  any  radical 
social  or  economical  change  to  show  that  that  change  is  de- 
manded. We  have  shown  you  that  there  is  hardly  a  prominent 
business  or  professional  man  in  Chicago  who  is  today  ready  to 
advocate  municipal  operation  of  street  railways. 

The  gentlemen  have  attempted  to  force  upon  you  an  interpre- 
tation of  this  question  which  is  absurdly  unfair.  They  would 
discuss  the  present  system  in  all  its  aspects  as  a  practical  work- 
ing system,  but  their  system  is  to  be  ideally  perfect,  an  dany  at- 
tempt to  submit  it  to  practical  criticism  is  an  infringe- 
ment of  the  third  concession.  Gentlemen  of  the  jury, 
we  submitted  that  concession  to  the  judges  of  our  own 
supreme  court,  the  prominent  city,  county,  state  and 
federal  judges  in  chicago,  to  lawyers,  scholars,  and 
business  men,  and  the  answer  invariably  obtained  was:  "that 
concession  means  practical  civil  service."  And  where,  worthy 
jurors  ?  In  the  conditions  and  environment  furnished  by  the 
city  of  Chicago  today. 

The  gentlemen's  main  reasons  thus  far  for  advocating  munici- 
pal ownership  and  operation  have  been  : 


—  54  — 

(1)  That  municipal  ownership  would  result  in  more  trans- 
fers. _£2)  That  corruption  in  city  government  would  be  de- 
creased by  muiiicipalization. 

They  do  not  pretend  to  lower  fares  immediately,  nor  will  they 
ever  be  able  to,  and  judging  from  the  services  at  present  ren- 
dered by  the  city,  we  surely  cannot  hope  for  better  service  and 
better  transportation  facilities. 

My  colleagues  have  shown  you  that  owing  to  the  peculiar  divi- 
sion of  Chicago  into  practically  three  cities,  there  is  no  especial 
demand  or  need  of  transfers  from  the  Xorth  to  the  South  or  West 
sides,  and,  further,  that  it  would  be  a  financial  impossibility  to 
carry  people  from  the  northern  to  the  southern  confines  of  the 
city  for  five  cents,  a  distance  of  nearly  thirty-five  miles. 

\Vith  respect  to  the  negative's  corruption  argument,  can  any 
one  believe  that  a  change  in  ownership  will  work  a  miracle  in  the 
characters <>f  ( 'liicago  otficialsand  aldermen  ?  Judging  from  their 
arguments  the  negative  would  lay  all  the  misgovernment  and 
official  rottenness  in  Chicago  at  the  doors  of  the  street  railway 
companies.  Are  the  companies  to  be  held  responsible  for  the 
dishonesty  in  the  street  di  partment,  the  park  steals,  the  manipu- 
lation of  contracts,  the  licensing  of  crime  and  vice,  and 
the  general  debauched  condition  of  the  city's  administration? 
Did  the  street  railway  companies  pass  tho  Bacon  compressed 
air  ordinance?  Are  they  responsible  for  the  Ogden  gas  and  the 
other  gas  franchises  hawked  about  for  sale  on  Wall  street  by  Chi- 
cago aldermen  ?  Are  they  to  be  charged  with  the  Lake  Front 
steals,  and  the  general  electric  hold-up? 

As  my  colleague  has  so  ably  shown  you,  worthy  jurors,  the 
cause  of  corruption  lies  deeper  than  any  form  of  ownership,  and 
it  is  nonsensical  to  argue  that  municipal  ownership  will  bring 
municipal  virtue.  If  we  cannot  now  elect  honest  men  and  keep 
politics  out  of  public  service,  how  can  we  better  do  this  when 
the  number  of  public  servants  is  doubled?  If  the  city  cannot 
now  administer  its  property  in  an  economical  and  honest  man- 
ner, what  reason  is  there  to  suppose  that  with  two-fold  greater 
burdens  it  will  be  able  to  do  better? 

A  few  words  in  regard  to  the  figures  of  the  gentleman  preced- 
ing me.  He  bases  his  entire  argument  upon  the  authority  of  Dr. 
Bemis,  author  of  the  Street  Railway  portion  of  the  Illinois  Labor 
Report,  As  a  first  consideration,  Dr.  Bemis'  partisanship  as  re- 
gards this  question  should  disqualify  him  as  a  competent  author- 
ity. Though  an  able  economic  student,  Dr.  Bemis  is  not  an  en- 
gineer, and  is  therefore  not  qualified  to  speak  with  authority  on 


—  55  — 

the  cost  of  constructing  street  railways  in  Chicago.  Dr.  Bends, 
however,  bases  the  larger  part  of  his  estimates  upon  the  estimates 
of  Mr.  Frank  Vanderlip,  formerly  employed  as  a  sub-editor 
on  the  Chicago  Economist.  Mr.  Evans,  editor  of  this  paper, 
said  in  a  personal  interview,  wrhen  asked  regarding  Mr.  Erank 
Vanderlip7 s  position  as  a  street  railway  authority :  "Mr.  Van- 
derlip has  no  qualifications  for  judging  the  cost  of  constructing 
a  street  railway.  I  had  as  soon  take  lierr  Most's  opinion  on  the 
bible  as  Mr.  Vanderlip's  on  street  railway  construction.7' 

The  gentleman,  too,  has  failed  to  make  a  far  from  sufficient 
allowance  for  depreciation  in  his  estimates  and  has  entirely  neg- 
lected a  sinking  fund. 

The  construction  the  gentlemen  place  upon  the  first  conces- 
sion is  exceedingly  novel  and  amusing.  The  transfer  can  be  le- 
gally and  constitutionally  made,  they  say,  means  that  the  rights 
of  the  companies  to  the  roads  cease  at  once ;  that  all  the  proper- 
ties pass  into  the  hands  of  the  city  which  will  then  generously 
present  the  companies  a  sum  equal  to  about  one-third  of  tho 
value  of  the  property  confiscated. 

They  have  entirely  ignored  the  fact  that  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States  and  of  every  one  of  the  states  recognizes  the  ex- 
istence of  vested  rights.  An  elementary  knowledge  of  constitu- 
tional law  should  have  taught  them  this. 

But,  honorable  jurors,  what  does  this  first  concession  actu- 
ally mean  ?  It  concedes  that  a  sale  is  to  be  made  to  the  city ; 
that  the  city  by  the  state  constitution  and  statutes  is  to  be  per- 
mitted to  be  the  buyer,  and  that  this  sale  is  to  be  concluded  at  a 
fair  compensation.  A  fair  compensation  will,  of  course,  in  the 
absence  of  franchise  provisions,  have  to  be  determined  by  the 
courts  with  due  consideration  for  vested  rights  and  interests. 

And  now  what  is  a  fair  compensation  ?  Says  Mr.  Evans,  edi- 
tor of  Chicago's  financial  journal,  the  Economist:  "The  city 
stands  in  the  same  position  as  any  other  purchaser  would.  A 
fair  compensation  to  the  owner  is  the  market  value  of  the  roads? 
as  represented  by  the  market  value  of  their  stocks  and  bonds. " 
"Writes  Judge  James  G.  Jenkins:  "When  the  city  exercises  its 
right  of  eminent  domain,  and  property  is  taken  from  the  owners 
for  public  use,  the  compensation  must  be  full  and  adequate,  and 
the  full  value  of  the  property,  including  therein  the  full  value 
of  the  franchises,  must  be  compensated  for.'7  Says  Judge 
Woods,  of  the  United  States  circuit  court :  "In  the  absence  of 
specific  franchise  provisions  the  question  would  have  to  be  de- 
cided by  the  courts,  who  in  all  probability  would  hold  that  the 


—  56  — 

market  value  of  the  stocks  and  bonds  constitutes  a  fair  compen- 
sation, though^  in  the  case  of  the  elevated  roads,  which  have  as 
yet  made  no  profits,  the  prospective  earning  value  would  have 
to  be  considered."  Says  Judge  Showalter:  "Inasmuch  as  the 
market  value,  by  state  laws,  is  assumed  as  the  basis  of  assessment 
for  purposes  of  taxation,  fair  compensation  in  case  of  a  sale 
should  justly  be  taken  as  the  market  value  of  the  roads." 

These  are  the  opinions  of  the  judges  in  whose  courts  the  ques- 
tion of  compensation  would  have  to  be  decided.  Other  judges, 
including  members  of  the  city  and  county  courts  and  of  the  state, 
supreme  court,  interviewed  and  written  to,  agree  that  the  mar- 
ket value  of  the  securities  must  be  taken  as  the  fair  compensa- 
tion. The  assumption  then  by  the  city  of  a  debt  equivalent  to 
the  market  value  of  the  roads  must  be  taken  as  one  of  the  neces- 
sary conditions  of  the  proposed  system  of  municipal  ownership 
in  Chicago.  I  repeat,  the  assumption  of  such  a  debt  is  a  neces- 
sary condition  of  the  proposed  system  of  municipal  ownership 
in  Chicago. 

This  conclusion  is  also  justified  in  equity.  The  stocks  and 
bonds  of  the  various  street  railways  are  distributed  among  thou- 
sands of  holders.  AVe  examined  the  stockholders'  book  of  thy 
N.  C.  street  railway,  and  found  that  a  very  large  number  of  the 
great  middle  class  had  invested  their  savings  in  this  manner. 
Untold  misery  would  result  by  the  payment  of  less  than  the  mar- 
ket value  of  this  stock.  And  surely,  gentlemen,  there  can  be  no 
justification  £or  a  course  which  would  bo  nothing  less  than  an 
actual  robbery  of  these  people. 

Then,  too,  the  street  railway  securities  to  a  great  extent  form 
the  assets  of  a  number  of  the  largest  banks  and  trust  companies 
in  Chicago.  The  shrinkage  in  assets  caused  by  an  assumption 
of  the  street  railway  properties  at  less  than  the  market  value 
would  drive  many  of  these  institutions  to  the  wall,  producing  a 
panic  from  which  it  would  take  years  to  recover,  and  inflicting 
a  lasting  injury  upon  the  reputation  of  the  city  as  a  safe  place 
for  the  investment  of  capital. 

With  our  argument  fortified  by  the  informal  opinions  of  the 
very  courts  that  would  decide  the  question  of  fair  compensation, 
and  considering  the  wide-spread  ruin  and  disaster  that  would 
follow  a  policy  of  practical  confiscation,  we  must  conclude  that 
the  market  value  at  least  should  be  the  price  of  the  transfer. 
But  even  then  a  great  injustice  would  be  done  to  the  elevated 
roads,  all  recently,  and  a  part  of  them  still,  in  the  hands  of  re- 
ceivers. Their  securities  at  the  present  time  would  not  bring 


—  57  — 

half  the  actual  cost  of  the  roads.  According  to  Prof.  Bemis 
himself,  the  negative's  authority,  the  elevated  roads  have  not 
even  paid  the  smallest  interest  on  the  actual  investment.  Some- 
time, however,  they  will  net  a  profit.  The  investor  has  been 
willing  to  wait  for  this  time.  In  justice  to  him,  therefore,  the 
prospective  earning  value  should  be  considered,  or  there  should 
at  least  be  returned  to  him  his  original  investment  with  a  fair 
interest, 

But  taking  the  market  value  only ;  the  three  surface  roads,  as 
given  by  the  Ilarlan  report,  the  negative's  authority,  and  com- 
piling the  value  of  the  other  roads  from  the  quotations  in  the 
!N"ew  York  Commercial  and  Financial  Journal,  the  Economist, 
and  the  Chicago  Stock  Directory,  we  find  the  cost  of  the  nega- 
tive's experiment  to  be  over  $141,000,000,  as  is  shown  by  the 
following  chart. 

CHART  I. —  Estimate  of  cost  of  roads  to  city  at  the  legal  fair 
compensation.    Market  value  of  securities. 


West  Chicago 

$35,360,795 

Authorities. 
Harlan  Report,  p.  303. 

North.  Chicago 

24,107,150 

Harlan  Report  p  296. 

Chicago  City 

32,144,500 

Harlan  Report,  p.  289. 

Northwestern  Elevated  .  .  ..  

3,290,611 

Actually  spent    thus. 

South  Side  Elevated.             .   .  . 

8,622,338 

far  in  construction  . 
Chicago  Stock  Direc- 

Metropolitan 1  Eevated                .     .  . 

9,825,000 

tory:       Economist: 

Lake  Street  Elevated 

5,003,925 

N.    Y.    Commercial 

Union  .Loop 

4,279,370 

and  Financial  Jour- 

Union Consolidated  

407,000 

nal. 

Chicago  North  Shore  

1,325,000 

Par  value  of  guarate'd 

Calumet  Street  Railway  

3,  000,  000 

bonds  alone  taken. 

Chicago  General  

1,634,000 

South  Chicago  City  

1,563,000 

Hammond,  Whiting  &  E.  Chicago.  . 
Suburban  Street  Railway  

100,000 
1,250,000 

Evanston  Electric 

130  000 

North  Side  Electric 

155,000 

North  Chicago  Electric  

829,000 

Chicago  Electric  Transit  

1,097,000 

Chicago  and  Jefferson 

206,000 

Cicero  and   Proviso 

1,957,000 

Ogden  Street  Railway. 

750,000 

Chicago  Electric   Traction  (storage 
battery) 

1,248,000 

Total  

$141,284,689 

NOTE.— City  must  further  purchase  the  franchise  rights  of  General  Electric  Railway 
to  twenty  miles  of  street. 


—  58  — 

When  I  tell  YOU  that  the  entire  bonded  debt  of  Chicago,  as 
authorized  by  the  state  constitution,  is  in  round  numbers  but 
twelve  million  dollars,  and  that,  including  the  world's  fair 
bonds,  authorized  by  special  amendment,  the  entire  debt  of  the 
city  is  but  $17,000,000,  do  you  not  question  the  wisdom  of  a 
proposition  advocating  an  increase  of  the  city's  indebtedness  to 
over  nine  times  its  present  amount  for  the  purpose  of  what  is 
really  a  reckless  experiment?  The  citizens 'of  Chicago  had  not 
attempted  to  increase  their  bonded  debt,  even  to  provide  for  the 
crying  needs  of  a  great  city.  Shall  over-crowded  schools,  worn 
out  and  rotten  pavements,  filthy  and  disease-breeding  streets  and 
alleys,  over-flowing  garbage  boxes,  shaky  bridges  and  viaducts, 
inefficient  lighting  facilities,  and  inadequate,  and  unusable 
water  supply,  and  wretched  sanitary  conditions  receive  no  con- 
sideration, while  a  debt  of  $141,000,000  is  incurred  for  the  pur- 
pose of  developing  a  mere  theory  ? 

But  a  debt  of  this  kind  draws  interest.  Assume  this  at  the 
rate  of  four  per  cent.,  which  rate  a  large  per  cent,  of  the  city 
bonds  bear.  It  is  doubtful,  however,  whether  such  an  immense 
amount  of  bonds,  issued  at  one  time,  could  be  floated  at  par,  if 
at  all.  It  must  be  considered  that  this  issue  is  larger  than  any 
single  issue  in  the  United  States  since  the  civil  war,  not  except- 
ing even  the  recent  Avar  loan.  Prominent  bankers  and  finan- 
ciers to  whom  our  estimates  were  submitted  for  approval,  ex- 
pressed serious  doubts  as  to  the  probability  of  even  floating  the 
bonds  at  one  time. 

But  conceding. the  issue  a  success,  what  is  the  situation?  Over 
$5,600,000  must  be  raised  each  year  for  interest  alone.  And, 
unless  at  the  end  of  a  period  of  years  the  city  is  to  have  on  its 
hands  a  worn-out  system,  to  be  reconstructed  by  taxation  or  by  a 
further  issue  of  bonds  we  must  provide  for  depreciation.  Car- 
roll D.  Wright,  in  the  investigations  of  the  United  States  labor 
bureau,  has  ordered  a  regular  allowance  for  depreciation  to  be 
made.  Detroit  in  its  annual  lighting  estimates,  and  even  Glas- 
gow in  the  case  of  its  street  railway,  do  the  same. 

From  correspondence  with  prominent  engineers  we  find  that 
7^  per  cent,  is  an  extremely  low  average  of  depreciation  on  a 
street  railway  system.  Xow  taking  7}  per  cent,  on  the  cost  of 
duplicating  the  physical  property,  as  given  by  Professor  Bemis 
and  the  Harlan  report,  ridiculously  low  estimates,  we  have  over 
$4,000,000  more  which  must  be  provided  for  each  year. 


—  59  — 

CHART  II. —  Net  annual  receipts  of  roads  for  the  year  1897  —  From  re- 
ports of  roads  in  Economist  and  Chicago  Stocks  Directory. 

Chicago  City $1,907,534 

West  Chicago 1,979,253 

North  Chicago ] ,  991,625 

Lake  St.  Elevated 250, 836 

Metropolitan  Elevated 292, 880 

South  Side  Elevated 132, 913 

Calumet  St .  Railway 131, 672 

Chicago  General 37, 305 

Union  Loop 250, 000 

Allow  for  remaining  small  roads,  reports  of  which  not  obtainable      400, 000 

Total .  .$6,847,048 


CHART  III. —  Annual  lo*s  to  city  under  municipal  operation. 

Estimate  based  on  the  legal  fair  compensation. 

Interest  4  per  cent,  on  $U1, 281,689 $5,651,387 

Depreciation  7V£  per  cent,  on  $55,038,683  (value  of  physical 
plan  ) 4, 081, 276 


$9,682,663 
Annual  net  receip  s 6, 847, 048 


Annual  deficit $2, 835, 615 

Legally  required  sinikng  fund  — 5  per  cent,  of  $141,284,689. .       7,161,234 

Total  annual  deficit $9, 899, 849 

Assuming  that  the  city  will  be  able  to  render  as  efficient  ser- 
vice at  as  low  a  rate,  that  is,  that  the  cost  of  operation  remains 
the  same,  which  proposition  we  absolutely  deny,  we  have  as  net 
receipts,  applicable  to  the  above  fixed  charges,  $6,847,048,  leav- 
ing a  net  deficit  of  over  $2,800,000  to  be  met  annually.  How? 
By  the  issue  of  more  bonds  or  by  direct  taxation.  But  how  are 
the  original  bonds  to  be  paid  ?  Section  -XII.,  Article_IX.,  of 
the  Illinois  constitution  provides  that  any  municipal  corporation 
incurring  a  bonded  indebtedness,  shall  provide  for  the  collection 
of  a  direct  annual  tax  sufficient  to  pay  and  discharge  the  princi- 
pal thereof  within  twenty  years  from  the  time  of  contracting  the 
same. 

Unless,  then,  we  over-turn  entirely  the  state  constitution  we 
shall  have  to  provide  for  this  5  per  cent,  sinking  fund.  But 
where  is  it  coming  from?  As  we  already  have  an  enormous 
deficit  of  over  $2,800,000. 

While  the  courts,  as  already  shown,  would  in  all  probability 
compel  the  payment  of  the  market  value,  and  while  morally  it 
is  the  only  just  compensation,  still,  in  order  to  silence  those  who 


—  GO-  - 

believe  in  a  confiscation  of  vested  interests,  and  who  have  no  re- 
gard for  financial  disaster,  or  the  irreparable  injury  to  the  city's 
reputation  such  a  course  would  bring,  let  us  see  what  a  showing 
the  city  could  make  if  it  paid,  not  the  market  value,  but  the  cost 
of  duplication  only.  Taking  the  Harlan  figures  for  the  three 
surface  lines,  and  the  figures  of  Bemis  for  the  elevated  and 
minor  roads,  we  obtain  $76,000,000  as  the  transfer  price. 
A  word  as  to  these  estimates :  Mr.  Bemis  nowhere  al- 
lows for  the  cost  of  frontage  to  the  surface  roads,  of  itself  an  im- 
mense sum,  ranging  from  $25,000  per  mile  to  $200,000  for  a 
single  block  in  the  down  town  district.  Further,  we  have  ob- 
tained estimates  from  numerous  engineers  in  Chicago  and  else- 
where, and  find  Prof.  Bemis  from  25  to  50  per  cent,  too  low  in 
every  case. 

As  a  specific  illustration  of  the  unreliability  of  Dr.  Bemis's 
guesses,  take  the  case  of  the  Xorthwestern  elevated.  Dr.  Bemis 
estimates  the  cost  of  the  structure,  etc.,  at  $325,000  per  mile, 
and  allows  about  $325,000  for  right  of  way.  Yet  in  the  reor- 
ganization proceedings  of  the  road  it  was  shown  that  over 
$6,000,000  in  cash  had  been  expended  on  the  proposed  eight 
miles  of  road,  and  that  nearly  $:>, 000,000  more  would  be 
needed  to  discharge;  all  debts  and  put  the  road  in  running  order. 
This  is  an  example  of  a  road  being  built  at  the  prc-cnt  time,  and 
the  cost  is  not  $650,000,  but  over  $1,000,0.00  per  mile.  How- 
ever, the  gentlemen  of  the  negative  probably  consider  this  but  a 
trivial  error. 

But  still  upon  this  unfair  basis,  allowing  4  per  cent,  interest, 
and  taking  7^  per  cent,  depreciation  as  before  on  the  physical 
plant,  we  still  have  a  deficit  of  over  $1*00,000,  with  no  provision 
for  the  legally  required  5  per  cent,  sinking  fund,  in  fact  not  the 
remotest  prospect  of  ever  liquidating  the  purchase  bonds. 

Extraordinary  as  this  result  may  seem,  it  is  easily  explained 
by  the  fact  that  the  elevated  roads,  the  cost  of  which  was 
$32,000,000,  and  a  large  number  of  small  surface  roads,  which 
cost  over  $16,000,000,  are  scarcely  making  operating  expenses, 
even  under  private  management.  It  is  true  that  two  of  the 
roads  have  been  very  profitable,  but  the  profits  of  these  fall  far 
short  of  the  profits  necessary  to  pay  interest  and  depreciation  on 
the  cost  of  all  the  roads  in  the  city  without  considering  the  re- 
quired sinking  fund. 

But  in  our  discussion  thus  far  we  have  assumed  that  the  cost 
of  operation  will  remain  the  same.  But  will  it?  It  is  an  un- 
deniable fact,  as  proved  by  my  colleague,  that  even  though  apj 


—  61  — 
CHART  IV. — Annual  loss,  paying  but  cost  of  duplication. 

COST    OF    DUPLICATION. 

North  Chicago (Harlan  Report,  p.  306)  $6, 035, 729 

West  Chicago (Harlan  Report,  p.  306)  12,506, 184 

Chicago  city (Harlan  Report,  p.  306)  10, 316, 320 

1  Minor  and  cross  town  roads.  (See  Bemis,  111.  Labor  Kept. 

1896.  p.  58) 8,685,000 

Elevated  roads— Cost  of  construction 16, 444, 250 

Cost  of  right  of  way (See  Labor  Report,  p.  621)  16, 788, 750 

Total  cost..  $76,842,433 

.04 


Interest  at  4  per  cent $3, 073, 697 

Depreciation—?^  per  cent,  on *  $55, 083, 683          4, 031, 276 

Total  fixed  charges $7, 104,973 

Amount  net  receipts 6, 846, 048 

Amount  deficit $257,925 

Legally  required  5  per  cent,  of  sinking  fund  (5  per  cent,  of 
$76,842,433) $3,842,121 

Total  amount  deficit $4,100,046 

1  This  estimate  includes  roads  built  since  1896. 

2  Cost  of  duplication  less  value  of  real  estate. 

pointmentSj  removals  and  promotions  are  made  on  a  basis  of  ei> 
ficiency  only,  still,  owing  to  the  deterioration  in  the  efficiency 
of  the  labor  unit,  a  municipality  pays  higher  prices  for  poorer 
service  than  does  any  other  employer  of  labor.  The  reason  lies  in 
the  fundamental  differences  between  a  private  corporation  and 
a  municipality,  the  one  being  organized  for  purely  economic,  the 
other  for  political  pui'poses.  _  The  one  vests  the  entire  direction 
of  its  affairs  in  a  small  board  of  directors,  themselves  owning  a 
large  part  of  the  stock.  These  men  are  vitally  interested  in  the 
success  of  the  undertaking,  as  it  means  to  them  financial  loss  or 
gain.  Whatever  it  may  bo  in  theory,  the  board  of  council  rep- 
resenting the  other  is  in  practice  generally  a  partisan  political 
body,  responsible  to  over  two  millions  of  constituents,  and  there- 
fore to  none.  The  first  may  assume  all  the  risks  involved  in  a 
far-sighted  development  and  extension  of  the  system.  The 
powers  of  the  second  are  limited.  For  all  plans  of  improvement 
necessitating  great  expenditures  must  be  decided  by  the  people 
themselves,  directly  or  by  their  representatives  in  the  council. 
Politics  will  inevitably  enter  into  their  decisions.  The  servants 
of  a  corporation  are  capable  and  .attentive  to  duty,  made  so  by 
the  strictest  discipline  and  careful  superintendence.  The 


—  62  — 

servants  of  the  municipality  are  lax,  wasteful  and  extravagant, 
discipline  is  loose;  responsibility  is  nowhere.  Throughout  the 
entire  service  runs  the  idea,  do  the  least  possible,  the  city  can 
stand  it.  As  long  as  there  exists  these  inherent  differences  in 
nature,  purposes  and  motives,  the  administration  of  municipal 
affairs  can  never  realize  the  efficiency  obtained  by  private  cor- 
porations. 

With  the  effectiveness  of  management  decreased  comes  a  de- 
crease in  the  efficiency  of  the  laborer  and  a  deterioration  in  the 
character  of  the  service  rendered.  The  effectiveness  of  the 
labor  unit  decreased,  more  men  must  be  employed  to  render  the 
same  service,  with  a  consequent  increase  in  the  pay-roll  and  the 
cost  of  operation.  In  -the  United  States  postal  department,  in 
which  civil  service  has  reached  its  highest  development,  the  pres- 
ent pay-roll  could  be  reduced  one-third  by  the  economical  man- 
agement of  a  private  concern.  Says  ex-Postmaster-General 
Vilas :  "The  United  States  postal  department  run  by  a  private 
corporation  could  give  as  good  service,  a  penny  postage,  and  still 
make  money."  It  today  has  an  annual  deficit  of  millions.  The 
creation  of  sinecures,  the  employment  of  supernumeraries  and 
the  still  grosser  forms  of  padding  the  pay-rolls,  are  the  inevitable 
adjuncts  of  municipal  management  everywhere.  To  illustrate 
this,  and  the  general  inefficiency  of  labor  under  municipal  oper- 
ation, turn  to  Philadelphia.  A  legislative  investigation  dis- 
closed the  fact  that  one-third  of  the  men  employed  could  have 
made  all  the  gas  needed  in  Philadelphia,  yet  to  make  65  per  cent, 
of  the  gas  actually  delivered,  it  was  found  that  all  the  men  on 
the  pay  rolls  could  not  stand  shoulder  to  shoulder  on  all  the  prop- 
erty of  the  plant.  That  while  private  companies  paid  on  an 
average  seven  cents  per  thousand  for  labor,  Philadelphia  paid 
from  twenty-one  to  twenty-nine  cents. 

But  to  cite  illustrations  right  in  Chicago,  an  ex-superintendent 
of  parks,  in  a  personal  interview,  said :  "I  could  have  done  all  the 
work  required  of  me  at  any  time  with  one-half  of  the  men  I  had 
if  they  had  not  been  city  employes.  An  investigation  a  short 
time  ago  in  the  water-pipe  extension  department,  showed  gross 
abuse  of  this  kind.  Laborers  were  certified  to  the  pay  roll  for 
days,  doing  no  work  whatever. 

Further  consider  the  influence  of  the  street  railway  vote. 
This  vote  would  number  at  least  25,000.  And  if  an  influence 
of  one  each  over  relatives  be  assumed,  wo  shall  have  a  voting 
strength  of  50,000,  sufficient  to  swing  anv  election  in  Chicago. 
Politicians  would  bid  for  this  vote.  Higher  wages  and  shorter 


—  63  — 

hours  would  become  the  issue  in  city  elections.  In  Australia, 
under  government  ownership,  the  evil  became  so  great  that  the 
Sydney  Herald  advocated  either  the  abolition  of  state  railroads 
or  of  the  right  of  railroad  employes  to  vote.  That  the  possibili- 
ties for  political  power  are  realized  by  labor  leaders  is  shown  by 
a  remark  of  President  Doyle  of  the  federated  trades  council: 
"The  reason  why  I  should  like  to  see  municipal  ownership  and 
operation  is  in  order  that  labor  may  find  an  opportunity  to  show 
its  power."  The  eight  hour  law  would  undoubtedly  be  extended 
to  the  street  railway  service,  but  this  alone  would  increase  the 
cost  of  labor  one-third. 

With  the  increase  in  the  labor  item,  by  reason  of  the  deteriora- 
tion in  the  effectiveness  of  the  labor  unit,  by  the  application  of 
the  eight-hour  law,  and  on  account  of  the  padding  of  the  pay- 
rolls, the_jcost_of_operatipn  would  be  vastly  increased.  With 
the  cost  of  operation  the  same,  we  have  shown  an  enormous 
deficit  unavoidable,  and  with  this  cost  increased  must  come  a 
corresponding  increase  in  the  deficit. 

Then,  too,  contracts  for  millions  of  dollars  must  be  let  each 
year  for  the  purchase  of  supplies  and  new  construction ;  and  no 
one_can  for  a  moment  claim  that  the  city  is  as  cheap  a  buyer  as  a 
private  corporation.  In  the  city  of  Chicago  today  certain  fav- 
orite contractors  receive  the  work  at  exorbitant  rates.  The  law 
providing  that  all  contracts  above  $500.00'  be  let  to  the  lowest 
bidder  is  avoided  by  letting  to  one  contractor  eight  or  ten  con- 
tracts for  the  same  job,  each  for  a  little  less  than  $500.00.  And 
if  a  contract  is  accidentally  let  at  reasonable  rates,  the  work,  in 
contractor's  parlance,  is  "skinned"  to  make  up  for  it.  A  promi- 
nent contractor  of  Chicago  told  me  confidentially  that  he  had 
been  twice  approached  by  city  officials  with  a  proposition  to  take 
them  in  as  silent  partners,  they  agreeing  to  obtain  the  city  work 
at  good  big  rates. 

In  a  report  of  the  real  estate  board,  December  8,  1898,  it  was 
shown  that  the  city  of  Chicago  pays  4-0  per  cent,  more  for  work 
than  does  any  other  city.  Prominent  business  men  in  inter- 
views stated  that  a  private  person  could  obtain  the  same  wrork  at 
from  one-half  to  two-thirds  the  rate  paid  by  the  city.  To  illus- 
trate: A  prominent  business  firm  paid  by  special  assessment 
to  the  city  as  much  for  the  laying  of  a  wooden  block  pavement  in 
front  of  their  place  of  business  as  they  paid  to  a  private  con- 
tractor for  the  construction  of  an  asphalt  alley  containing  twice 
as  many  square  yards.  In  Philadelphia  it  was  shown  that 
private  parties  paid  from  thirty-five  to  fifty  cents  less  per  ton  for 


coal  than  did  the  city.  The  fact  that  the  postal  department,  un- 
der the  strictest  civil  service,  pays  an  annual  rental  for  mail  cars 
greater  even  than  their  actual  value,  shows  that  the  merit  sys- 
tem does  not  strike  at  the  root  of  the  evil..  Whatever  civil  ser- 
vice be  introduced,  gentlemen,  you  cannot  legislate  out  of  a 
man's  mind  the  idea  that  it  is  permissible  to  bleed  the  city  when- 
ever occasion  offers. 

And  the  negative  must  not  forget  that  by  changing  the  form 
of  OAvnorship  they  are  not  changing  human  nature ;  that  the  con- 
taminating influences  of  the  present  corrupt  conditions  in  Chi- 
cago must  react  upon  their  system,  and  if  contracts  are  let  today 
at  exorbitant  rates  to  favorites,  by  men  appointed  on  a  basis  of 
efficiency  only,  the  same  must  also  happen  under  their  system. 

If  the  city  pays  more  for  supplies  and  construction,  as  is  cer- 
tain to  be  the  case,  the  cost  of  operation  must  still  further  in- 
crease, and  our  deficit,  already  a  crushing  burden,  will  grow 
larger  and  larger.  Indeed,  it  is  extremely  likely,  judging  from 
Chicago's  past  experiences  that,  on  account  of  lack  of  foresight, 
mismanagement,  extravagance,  and  the  general  laxness  of  mu- 
nicipal methods,  the  cost  of  operation  will  exceed  even  the  en- 
tire gross  receipts.  In  our  discussion  we  have  assumed  that  the 
receipts  remain  the  same.  That  they  will  not  increase  very  rap- 
idly, at  least,  is  shown  by  the  following  chart: 

CHART  V. —  Shoiuing  gross  receipts  of  road. 


1895. 

1896. 

1897. 

Chicago  city 

$4,476,954 

84,808,866 

$4,816,516 

North  Chicago 

2,780,487 

2,913,710 

2,911,554 

West  Chicago 

4,201,477 

4,018,948 

3,  899,  916 

South  Side  Elevated 

739,  794 

766,  616 

701,425 

Metropolitan  Elevated,  not  operated 
1897. 
Lake  St.  Elevated  

517,304 

513,  668 

579,  960 

Chicago  General  

-82,082 

96,251 

79,821 

Total  

812,796,968 

813,178,059 

812,989,192 

Accurate  statistics  for  some'of  roads  not  obtainable.  Authorities  —  N.  Y.  Commer- 
cial and  Financial  Chronicle,  Economist,  Books  of  companies,  and  Chicago  Directory 
and  Investors'  Guide, 

We  have  time  for  only  a  cursory  review  of  service  under  mu- 
nicipal management.  Though  an  acknowledged  fact  that  the  mu- 
nicipalities cannot  get  the  ablest  men  to  serve  them,  let  us  assume 
for  a  moment  that  by  a  salary  entirely  disproportionate  to  that 


':<5X 

OF  THE  A 

UNIVERSITY  ] 

OF  / 

—  65  — 

paid  other  city  officers,  the  city  has  induced  a  Bowen  or  Roach 
to  assume  the  management  of  the  system.  But  even  then,  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  the  manager  is  appointed  on  a  basis  of  ef- 
ficiency only,  disagreements  are  bound  to  occur  between  the  man- 
ager and  the  governing  board  or  council.  The  manager,  with 
his  keen  foresight,  will  plan  far  into  the  future;  the  board  car- 
ing only  for  the  financial  showing  for  the  year  will  veto  hia 
plans.  The  success  of  a  business  of  such  detail  as  the  operation 
of  a  street  railway  system  depends  upon  the  management.  Said 
President  Bowen  in  a  personal  interview :  "In  the  operation  of 
a  railroad  the  manager  must  be  allowed  the  fullest  discretionary 
power.  The  failure  to  seize  offered  opportunities  of  the  mo- 
ment, miscalculations  here,  extravagance  there,  or  carelessness 
anywhere  would  turn  our  dividends  into  deficit  assessments." 

But,  gentlemen,  however  efficient  the  governing  board,  how- 
ever capable  the  manager,  as  my  colleague  has  shown, 
still  the  development  and  extension  of  the  system  will 
will  be  as  it  is  to-day,  in  the  hands  of  the  common 
council  of  Chicago.  This  worthy  body,  with  Johnnie  Powers 
as  its  leader,  has  absolute  charter  control  of  the  streets  of  Chi- 
cago. No  matter  how  the  gentleman  may  theorize,  this  com- 
mon council  will  be  the  grantor  of  every  privilege1  in  the  streets, 
of  the  city  and  the  real  maker  of  all  extensions.  The  question 
of  street  paving,  of  sprinkling,  of  removing  snow,  of  stringing 
wires,  of  re-laying  tracks,  are  questions  over  which  this  body  has 
full  jurisdiction.  What  then  has  been  gained?  The  common 
council  in  spite  of  any  provisions  of  the  negative  will  absolutely 
control  the  entire  system.  Extensions  will  only  be  made  at  the 
dictates  of  this  body  according  to  the  demands  of  politics.  The 
whole  system,  in  spite  of  the  gentlemen's  clever  theorizing,  will 
be  run  as  a  gigantic  vote  catching  scheme  by  the  common  coun- 
cil of  Chicago  whose  character  needs  no  comment. 

Time  will  not  permit  a  further  discussion  of  the  question  of 
service  under  municipal  management.  My  colleague  has  already 
shown  you  that  under  the  best  civil  service  attainable  no  govern- 
ment has  ever  equalled  in  excellence  the  service  given  by  a 
private  corporation. 

An  impotent  management  and  an  adequate  and  unsystematic 
extension  of  transportation  facilities  surely  cannot  result  in  bet- 
ter service  than  at  present.  And,  when  we  consider  that  Chicago 
has  been  unable  even  in  those  departments  where  satisfactory 
civil  service  exists  to  obtain  desirable  results,  how  dare  we  hope  a 
favorable  solution  of  such  a  gigantic  problem  as  the  negative 
proposes? 


—  66  — 


SUMMARY. 

To  review  our  arguments :  In  our  debate  this  evening  we  have 
shown  that  under  the  present  method  of  ownership  and  operation 
has  been  built  up  in  Chicago  the  greatest  and  most  widely  ex- 
tended street  railway  system  in  the  world,  with  fares  as  low,  and 
with  service  as  excellent  as  can  be  found  in  any  city. 
We  have  shown  that  by  a  policy  of  liberal  extensions,  vast  real 
estate  values  have  been  created  and  an  invaluable  service  ren- 
dered to  the  city  by  distributing  population  over  a  greater  area. 

We  have  shown  that  the  large  surface  lines  pay  to  the  munici- 
pality in  various  forms  a  compensation  equal  to  10  per  cent,  of 
their  gross  receipts,  and  that  the  present  situation  is  certain  to 
result  in  a  largely  increased  payment  to  the  city.  We  have 
proved  that  there  is  no  desire  for  municipalization  among  the 
people  of  Chicago,  but  that  it  is  this  question  of  compensation 
which  has  created  tho  street  railway  problem  of  Chicago,  and 
that  with  its  settlement  the  entire  cause  of  the  present  agitation 
will  be  removed. 

But,  granting  that  the  negative  has  shown  serious  evils  in  the 
present  conditions,  they  must  prove  to  you  that  their  theory  in 
actual  practice  will  prove  the  remedy.  To  do  this  they  must 
present  evidence  of  its  practical  success  elsewhere. 

We  have  shown  that  municipalization  is,  in  the  United  States, 
an  untried  experiment;  that  both  the  Xew  York  and  Massa- 
chusetts legislative  committees,  after  a  most  thorough  examina- 
tion into  all  the  facts,  took  a  decided  stand  against  the  munici- 
palization of  street  railways ;  that,  according  to  Dr.  Shaw,  noth- 
ing practical  can  be  gained  from  European  analogies  on  account 
of  the  difference  in  conditions;  and  that  even  conceding  their 
application,  the  dollar  a  day  wages,  six-cent  fares,  and  bob-tailed 
cars  of  Great  Britain  are  hardly  to  be  desired  by  Chicago. 

But,  gentlemen,  even  if  the  negative  could  prove  municipaliza- 
tion in  general  a  success,  their  task  is  but  begun,  for  they  must 
show  that  their  plan  would  operate  successfully  in  Chicago,  and* 
we  must  remember,  too,  that  it  is  not  in  an  idealized  Chicago, 
but  in  the  Chicago  of  to-day,  that  their  experiment  is  to  be  tried. 

The  city,  which,  under  a  system  of  civil  service,  where  appoint- 
ments, promotions  and  removals  are  made  on  a  basis  of  efficiency 
only,  has  spent  $32,000,000  in  eight  years  on  pavements,  and  is 
to-day  the  worst  paved  city  in  the  world ;  the  city  that  wastes 
over  a  million  dollars  annually  on  garbage  disposal  and  street 


—  67  — 

cleaning,  and  still  literally  reeks  with  filth ;  the  city  that  supplies 
its  inhabitants  with  foul  and  unusable  water  at  exorbitant  rates ; 
that  in  its  puny  attempts  to  light  itself,  pays  fifty  dollars  more 
per  lamp  than  is  charged  by  private  companies ;  the  city  whose 
police  department  is  run,  not  for  the  suppression,  but  for  the 
protection  of  vice ;  and  whose  administration  of  justice  is  a  mis- 
erable farce ;  the  city  whose  leading  business  men  conspire  with 
assessors  to  rob  it  of  its  just  revenues;  whose  contractors,  with 
the  connivance  of  higher  officials,  obtain  extravagant  prices  for 
dishonest  work ;  and  which  chooses  as  its  representative  council 
a  body  one-fourth  of  whom  are  saloon  keepers  and  gamblers,  with 
eiii-ht  of  these  law-breakers  as  the  chairmen  of  its  most  important 
committees.  Into  the  hands  of  this  city,  which  has  so  miserably 
failed  in  the  discharge  of  its  municipal  functions ;  which  to-day 
is  one  of  the  most  corruptly-governed  cities  in  the  United  States, 
the  negative  would  place  the  control  and  management  of  proper- 
ties worth  over  $141,000,000.  And,  gentlemen,  if,  as  we  have 
shown,  under  the  most  perfect  conditions  attainable,  government 
service  has  never  equaled  in  excellence  that  given  by  private  cor- 
porations, what  dare  we  hope  from  this  city  which  has  never  done 
anything  well  ? 

We  have  shown  that,  notwithstanding  the  provisions  for  re- 
moving their  system  from  politics,  the  common  council  of  Chi- 
cago, by  virtue  of  its  charter  power  over  the  streets,  will  have  in 
its  hands  the  future  extension  and  development  of  the  street 
railway  system ;  that  this  admittedly  incapable  and  corrupt  body 
will,  under  the  negative's  system,  as  well  as  now,  grant  all  per- 
mits, rights  of  way,  and  extension  privileges ;  that  the  same  fric- 
tion existing  now  between  the  council  and  the  private  owners 
will  take  place  under  their  system  between  the  council  and  the 
managing  board ;  and  that  far  wrorse,  by  the  artifices  of  politics, 
the  common  council  would  in  time  dominate  the  entire  system. 

But,  gentlemen,  even  conceding  absolute  perfection  in  the 
operation  of  their  system,  we  have  proved  that  the  assumption  of 
the  roads  by  the  city  would  lead  to  certain  financial  disaster.  We 
have  shown  that  in  the  absence  of  specific  franchise  provisions, 
and  considering  the  magnitude  of  vested  interests,  the  market 
value  is  the  only  fair  compensation.  And,  quoting  the  opinions 
of  the  very  judges  who  would  decide  the  question,  we  have  proved 
that  the  assumption  of  the  gigantic  debt  of  over  $14-1,000,000 
is  one  of  the  necessary  conditions  of  municipal  ownership  in  Chi- 
cago. That  with  the  cost  of  operation  the  same  as  at  present,  the 
enormous  annual  deficit  of  over  $2,800,000,  at  the  very  least,  ia 


—  68  — 

inevitable,  without  considering  the  legally  required  sinking  fund. 
We  have  demonstrated  that  the  cost  of  operation  is  certain  to 
increase  under  municipal  management,  with  a  corresponding 
increase  in  the  deficit.  And  even  upon  the  unfair  basis  of  the 
cost  of  duplication  only  we  have  shown  a  deficit  of  over  $200,000 
as  inevitable,  with  no  possibility  of  ever  paying  the  original 
purchase  bonds. 

Gentlemen  of  the  jury,  when  you  consider  the  almost  certainly 
poorer  service,  the  increased  opportunities  for  corruption,  the 
added  powers  of  the  council,  the  enormous  financial  obligations 
entailed  upon  the  city,  when  you  recall  the  miserable  adminis- 
trative failures  of  Chicago,  and  when  you  remember  that  fares 
to-day  are  low,  service  is  good,  and  that  all  difficulties  in  regard 
to  compensations  are  approaching  a  settlement,  will  you  not  say 
with  us  that  the  present  system  of  private  ownership  and  opera- 
tion is  not  only  infinitely  more  preferable,  but  that  the  untried 
experiment  of  municipal  operation  would  be  absolutely  detri- 
mental to  the  best  interests  of  the  city.  : 


EMERSON  ELA,  PHILOMATHIA. 


We  assume,  Honorable  Jurors,  that  if  we  prove  municipal 
ownership  preferable  for  Chicago,  we  need  prove  its  expediency 
for  no  other  city  on  earth. 

Our  opponents  of  the  affirmative  insist  upon  arguing  this  ques- 
tion on  the  basis  of  present  conditions  in  Chicago.  They  ingnore 
the  question  as  it  is  stated,  and  in  the  inquiries  submitted  by 
them  to  Chicago  citizens  they  ask  for  views  on  municipal  owner- 
ship and  operation  under  present  conditions.  Honorable  Jurors, 
we  of  the  negative  are  not  advocating  municipal  ownership  under 
the  present  conditions,  but  under  the  conditions  provided  in  the 
question  for  debate.  The  question  must  be  accepted  intact,  with 
all  its  concessions  as  submitted,  and  it  is  beyond  the  scope  of  the 
affirmative's  power  to  declare  any  part  of  the  question  changed 
to  suit  their  convenience. 

The  affirmative  have  attacked  our  estimates,  but1  we  ask  you  to 
compare  these  estimates  with  those  presented  by  the  affirmative. 

The  affirmative  claim  that  the  city  will  have  to  pay  four  per 
cent,  interest  on  the  debt  incurred,  yet  they  failed  to  cite  one 
single  authority  to  support  this  position.  On  the  other  hand,  our 
estimate  of  3  1-2  per  cent,  interest  on  bonds  has  been  declared  the 
maximum  by  every  authority  whom  we  have  interviewed,  includ- 
ing A.  O.  Slaughter  £  Co.,  X.  W.  Harris  &  Co.,  the  National 
Bank  of  Commerce,  and  the  Chicago  National  Bank,  which 
purchased  the  last  block  of  Chicago  city  bonds. 

The  gentlemen  of  the  affirmative  differ  with  us  on  cost  of 
purchase,  and  again  they  ignore  the  question  as  stated.  The  first 
concession  of  the  question  declares  "that  the  transfer  can  legally 
and  constitutionally  be  made,  and  at  a  fair  compensation.'7  This 
contemplates  a  condition  in  which  the  franchises  are  at  an  end ; 
the  rights  of  the  companies  to  the  streets  are  wound  up,  and  the 
city  has  the  privilege  of  purchase  at  a  fair  compensation.  We 
are  supported  in  this  view  by  justices  of  our  supreme  court,  and 
by  eminent  members  of  the  bar.  Then,  what  is  "fair  compensa- 
tion?" Our  opponents  claim  that  market  price  is  "fair  com- 
pensation," and  they  have  quoted  the  curbstone  opinions  of 
Judge  Showalter,  Judge  Jenkins  and  Judge  Woods.  Against 
these  we  balance  the  written  court  opinion  of  Mr.  Justice  Brew- 
er, announced  in  the  case  of  ISTational  Water  Works  versus  Kan- 


sas  City  (62  Federal,  853).  In  this  opinion  Justice  Brewer 
holds  that  "fair  compensation"  is  cost  of  duplication.  The 
affirmative  then,  have  exaggerated  by  100  per  cent,  the  cost  to  the 
city,  and  they  have  taken  4  per  cent  as  the  interest  rate,  while 
3  1-2  per  cent  is  more  than  liberal;  therefore,  their  estimates, 
which  seek  to  prove  a  losing  business,  cannot  stand.. 

These  facts,  and  all  others  bearing  on  this  discussion,  must  be 
considered  in  their  application  to  Chicago.  Applying  this  rule, 
my  first  colleague  showed  to  you  that,  because  of  the  number  of 
companies  operating,  the  public  is  unsatisfactorily  served,  partic- 
ularly in  arrangement  of  routes  and  transfers.  That  on  account 
of  the  great  private  interests  at  stake,  depending  as  they  do  on  a 
public  franchise,  these  present  companies  are  sources  of  demoral- 
izing corruption  and  bribery  that  are  a  menace  to  honest  govern- 
ment. We  showed,  further,  that  the  only  possible  remedy  for 
these  faults  is  in  public  administration  of  the  street  railways. 

Then,  assuming  that  the  income  from  these  systems  will  mere- 
ly continue  at  its  present  amount,  though  in  fact  the  earnings  are 
increasing  daily,  my  second  colleague  showed  to  you  that  munici- 
pal ownership  is  demanded  by  every  financial  consideration. 

The  only  question  now  remaining  is:  Can  the  city  of  Chicago, 
under  the  conditions  provided  in  thu  question  Ave  are  debating, 
successfully  operate  these  great  street  railway  systems? 

Upon  what  sort  of  evidence  arc  we  to  determine  whether  Chi- 
cago can  successfully  operate  her  extensive  street  railways,  all 
appointments,  promotions  and  removals  being  made  on  the  basis 
of  efficiency?  Clearly  this  is  a  special  question,  provided  with 
special  conditions,  and  general  municipal  success  or  failure  Avill 
not  be  sufficient  to  establish  or  condemn  the  system  we  are  advo- 
cating. 

The  experience  of  Great  Britain  invariably  shows  that 
municipal  ownership  and  operation  is  eminently  successful  as 
compared  with  private  ownership  and  operation  in  Great 
Britain,  yet  the  conditions  surrounding  municipal  government 
there  are  so  different  from  those  in  Chicago  that  no  fair  com- 
parison can  be  made,  and  we  give  little  weight  to  this  foreign 
experience  in  this  debate. 

In  America  .there  have  been  no  important  precedents  in  mu- 
nicipal operation  of  street  railways.  Yet  the  almost  universal  suc- 
cess of  water  works  and  lighting  plants  under  public  administra- 
tion is  acknowledged.  The  experience  of  "hundreds  of  cities  now 
operating  their  own  public  utilities  in  one  form  or  another  prove 
that  the  question  of  the  wisdom  of  municipal  ownership  haa 
passed  out  of  the  domain  of  problems/' 


—  71  — 

Yet  even  this  almost  universal  experience  has  little  weight 
with  us  in  this  discussion  because  our  question  is  purely  one  of 
expediency,  since  it  involves  a  specific  city  and  provides  for 
municipal  operation  under  special  conditions. 

Even  Chicago's  own  experience  may  be  of  little  value  to  us. 
Chicago's  fire  department,  publicly  administered,  is  the  most 
complete  and  efficient  in  the  world,  and  her  park  system  is  ad- 
mirable. From  a  municipal  water  works  plant  Chicago  fur- 
nishes her  citizens  with  water  at  a  cost  of  from  8  to  10  cents  in 
the  meters,  and  in  addition  grants  15  per  cent,  discount  on  water 
bills  promptly  paid,  while  other  cities  charge  25  to  50  per  cent, 
higher  and  give  no  discounts  for  prompt  payments.  The  quality 
of  water  furnished  is  the  best  possible  under  the  present  sewerage 
arrangements.  In  spite  of  the  extravagant  statements  of  the 
affirmative,  no  sane-minded  Chicagoan  would  think  of  allowing 
private  parties  to  administer  the  water  works  to-day. 

More  recently  Chicago  has  established  an  electric  street  light- 
ing department,  The  yearly  cost  per  lamp  to  the  city  is  steadily 
decreasing,  and  Mr.  Ellicott,  chief  of  this  department,  states 
that  "when  the  total  number  of  lights  are  in  operation  the  annual 
cost  will  not  exceed  $70  per  lamp,"  whereas  the  city  now  pays 
private  companies  $107.50  per  lamp.  This  justifies  the  opinion 
of  disinterested  electricians  and  engineers  that  the  lighting  is 
efficiently  managed  and  business  principles  are  observed  in  the 
maintenance  of  the  force,  Important  as  is  this  local  experience 
in  showing  the  general  feasibility  of  municipal  undertakings,  yet 
even  this  evidence,  ordinarily  conclusive,  seems  insignificant 
when  you  consider  the  special  conditions  governing  the  policy  of 
municipal  ownership  and  operation  of  street  railways  provided 
in  our  question. 

In  not  one  of  the  cases  of  municipal  operation  to  which  we 
have  referred  does  there  exist  such  a  condition  as  is  provided  in 
our  question,  namely:  That  all  appointments,  promotions  and 
removals  shall  be  made  on  the  basis  of  efficiency  only. 

But  not  alone  out  of  the  success  of  municipal  operation  of 
public  works,  but  also  out  of  its  most  glaring  failures,  do  we 
make  strong  the  system  we  advocate. 

Let  us  take  two  examples  of  this  kind.  First,  the  wretched 
street-cleaning;  department  of  Chicago,  and,  second,  the  notorious 
gas-ring  of  Philadelphia.  Let  us  examine  them  closely.  If  we 
find  that  there  are  patent  causes  for  these  failures,  and  that  these 
causes  are  not  inherent  in  municipal  administration,  we  must 
admit  that,  where  these  causes  are  eliminated,  the  success  and 
economy  of  municipal  operation  wrould  be  assured. 


—  72  — 

All  students  agree  that  one  great  cause  of  extravagance  in 
performing  public  work  is  the  contract  system. 

In  economy  of  cost  and  cleanliness  of  thoroughfares  the  boule- 
vards of  Chicago,  where  all  work  is  done  directly  by  the  park 
boards,  when  compared  with  those  of  her  streets  where  the  work 
is  done  by  contract,  show  the  most  marked  contrast.  One  is  eco- 
nomical purity,  the  other  is  high-priced  filth. 

That  extravagance  in  municipal  administration  is  due  to  the 
contract  system  is  further  shown  by  these  statistics.  By  contract 
street  cleaning  costs  Chicago  $13.60  per  mile.  By  direct  employ 
and  contract  street  cleaning  costs  $10.26.  In  other  words,  the 
cleaning  by  direct  employ  of  about  one-third  of  the  streets  saved 
to  the  city  $3.34  per  mile  on  16,167  miles  cleaned  in  1896. 

That  extravagance  in  public  administration  is  due  to  the  con- 
tract system,  and  that  direct  employ  is  economical  and  satisfac- 
tory is4  still  further  shown  by  Boston  in  street  sprinkling  and  in 
building  her  great  sub-way;  by  the  admirable  and  economical 
street  cleaning  by  direct  employ  in  New  York  city  and  Toronto, 
and  this  bulletin  of  the  United  States  department  of  labor,  cover- 
ing the  chief  cities  of  the  whole  United  States,  traces  extrava- 
gance to  the  same  source. 

Honorable  Jurors,  no  city  can  deal  advantageously  with  the 
representatives  of  corporate  interests,  when  it  comes  to  making 
contracts. 

This  chief  source  of  extravagance  and  abuse  in  municipal 
administration  is  removed  from  this  discussion,  because  the  city 
will  do  every  detail  of  operation  by  direct  employ,  and  failure  in 
Chicago,  or  in  other  cities,  due  to  this  cause,  cannot  be  urged 
against  our  system. 

What  was  the  fault  in  the  management  of  the  Philadelphia 
gas  plant?  It  was  not  in  higher  rates  nor  in  poorer  gas  than 
would  have  been  provided  under  private  ownership.  The  fault 
was  that  it  fell  under  the  control  of  a  powerful  political  ring.  A 
ring  begotten  and  fostered  by  the  spoils  system,  and  that  made 
itself  almost  invincible  by  an  unholy  alliance  with  the  street 
railway  companies.  In  every  department  of  the  city  govern- 
ment, any  one  who  asserted  his  right  to  vote  as  he  pleased  was 
promptly  dismissed.  Boss  McManes  even  held  the  pay  rolls 
under  lock  and  key.  But  McManes  did  not  confine  himself  to  the 
spoils  of  municipal  administration.  To  strengthen  his  position 
he  bought  up  the  street  railways  of  Philadelphia,  and  thus  vastly 
increased  the  number  of  men  whose  political  ideas  he  dictated. 
Would  these  manipulations  have  been  possible  under  a  system  in 


—  73  — 

which  employes  of  public  works  were  assured  their  positions 
during  efficiency  ?  In  this  letter  to  us,  under  date  of  October  5, 
1898,  Hon.  James  Bryce,  who  has  so  fully  described  the  ring's 
work,  says:  "Mr.  McManes  and  the  gas  ring  of  Philadelphia 
could  not  have  ruled  as  they  did  if  there  had  been  in  Philadel- 
phia a  municipal  gas  system,  with  a  service  chosen  solely  for 
merit  and  retained  so  long  as  efficient." 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  abuses  of  public  administration 
are  due  to  these  two  causes :  First,  doing  public  work  by  contract ; 
and,  second,  the  appointment  and  removal  of  employes  for  politi- 
cal reasons,  regardless  of  efficiency. 

Bear  in  mind  these  two  propositions,  please,  while  we  state  our 
system  of  operation,  conceded  to  us  in  the  question,  and  you  will 
see  that  not  only  one,  but  both,.,  these  causes  are  removed  from  the 
system  we  advocate. 

Our  system,  then,  is,  that  municipal  ownership  and  operation 
of  the  Chicago  street  and  elevated  railways  shall  be  free  from 
state  legislative  interference ;  that  all  appointments,  promotions 
and  removals  shall  be  made  on  the  basis  of  efficiency  only ;  and 
that  such  a  system  would  be  preferable  to  the  present  system  of 
private  ownership  and  operation. 

Is  it  possible  under  such  a  system,  safeguarded  on  every  side 
against  the  evils  I  have  pointed  out  to  you,  to  secure  a  successful, 
economical,  business  administration? 

Our  system  provides  that  every  position,  from  the  general 
manager  down  to  the  lowest  employe,  shall  be  obtained  for  effi- 
ciency, shall  be  held  during  efficiency,  and  that  every  promotion 
shall  be  made  for  merit  only. 

Consider  what  this  means.  The  fact  that  the  head  of  the  street 
railway  department  is  appointed  for  and  holds  during  efficiency 
guarantees  to  the  system  a  thorough  business  management  from 
the  start, 

Compare  with  private  operation  the  results  of  such  public 
management  in  which  the  manager  is  appointed  for  and  holds 
during  efficiency.  It  is  like  the  management  of  railroads  by 
the  courts,  through  thd  medium  of  a  receiver.  The  receiver  is  a 
business  men,  whose  position  is  assured  until  he  abuses  his 
trust.  He  usually  has  no  financial  interest  in  the  undertaking. 
The  systems  then  are  identical,  though  their  sources  be  different. 
Said  Judge  Dillon:  "The  railroads  in  the  hands  of  the  courts 
have  all  been  run  with  less  expense,  and  have  made  more  money 
than  when  they  were  operated  by  the  companies."  A  very  recent 
statement  by  A.  O.  Slaughter  &  Co.,  concerning  the  Wisconsin 


—  74=  — 

Central  Bailroad,  reports  that  "under  the  receivership  the  road 
has  been  greatly  improved,  and  the  possibilities  of  economical 
operation  are  greater  than  ever  before."  Many  similar  ex- 
amples emphasize  and  demonstrate  the  fact  that  far  more  effi- 
cient management  will  be  secured  under  the  system  we  propose 
than  is  possible  under  any  system  of  private  operation. 

Again,  Honorable  'Jurors,  not  only  is  the  manager's  position 
assured  during  efficiency,  but  every  subordinate,  from  chief  clerk 
down,  obtains  his  employment  by  ability  and  enjoys  full  security 
of  tenure  so  long  as  he  is  efficient. 

All  appointments,  promotions,  and  removals  on  the  basis  of 
efficiency  only !  It  is  immaterial,  and  foreign  to  the  question, 
who  appoints,  removes  or  promotes  either  employes  or  manager, 
since  the  question  declares,  that  this  shall  be  the  state  of  affairs, 
when  the  municipal  system  of  the  negative  is  inaugurated. 

A  great  political  machine?  Nothing  could  be  further  re- 
moved from  politics  and  political  influence  than  the  municipal 
ownership  and  operation  we  are  advocating.  The  members  of 
a  permanent  civil  service  would  have  no  motive  for  interfering  in 
politics. 

Compare  our  system  in  this  respect  with  the  present  system 
defended  by  the  affirmative.  The  positions  of  street  car  em- 
ployes in  Chicago  to-day  depend  upon  their  political  views. 
These  men  must  do  the  dictates  of  their  employers  and  of  the 
ward  boss,  and  must  exert  themselves  even  to  return  corrubtible 
aldermen  to  the  council,  or  yield  their  places  to  others. 

This  is  done  in  spite  of  the  Australian  ballot,  and  in  two  per- 
fectly obvious  Avays:  First,  in  return  for  his  vote  on  a  franchise 
ordinance,  the  street  railway  companies  give  a  certain  number  of 
positions  in  their  force  to  the  alderman,  to  fill  by  appointing  his 
own  political  constituents.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  street 
car  employes  thus  appointed  will,  in  gratitude  to  their  benefac- 
tor, the  boss,  vote  as  he  dictates. 

Second,  the  street  car  companies  coerce  their  employes  and 
maintain  the  worst  kind  of  ring  rule  possible.  At  the  time  the 
Gallagher  ordinance  for  a  four-cent  fare  was  before  the  city 
council,  the  Chicago  City  Railway  Company  threatened  their 
employes  with  a  sweeping  reduction  in  wages  if  the  ordinance 
passed,  and  these  employes  presented  to  the  council  a  memorial, 
praying  for  the  defeat  of  the  ordinance. 

Gentlemen,  "Johnny"  Powers  of  the  19th  ward  controls  more 
positions  on  the  pay  rolls  of  Chicago  street  railway  companies 
than  any  spoilsman  ever  controlled  on  the  pay  rolls  of  any  city. 


Philadelphia  is  a  case  in  point.  As  we  have  said,  McManes 
strengthened  his  position  there  by  buying  up  the  street  railway 
lines,  and  »in  his  letter  to  us  Mr.  Bryce  declares  that,  "If  the  em- 
ployes of  the  street  railways  were  wholly  free  from  political  in- 
fluence, the  main  source  of  the  ring's  power  would  have  been 
cut  off." 

Moreover,  this  provision  for  appointments,  promotions  and 
removals,  by  entirely  divorcing  our  system  from  politics,  im- 
proves the  service,  and  increased  economy  of  operation  must  in- 
evitably result. 

Such  are  the  improved  conditions  under  wiiich  our  system  will 
operate.  That  economy  of  operation  will  result  therefrom  is  so 
evident  that  we  need  not  dwell  upon  it, 

Yet  there  are  special  economies  in  the  municipal  operation  we 
advocate  which  can  be  reduced  to  actual  figures ;  economies 
aggregating  millions  of  dollars  annually  saved  under  this  munici- 
pal operation. 

We  might  point  out  the  vast  amounts  spent  annually  by  the 
present  companies  in  litigation  over  franchise  privileges,  the 
enormous  costs  of  high-priced  lobbyists  and  lobbying,  and  the 
many  wastes  of  private  operation  known  only  to  the  officials  of 
these  roads.  But,  on  account  of  their  enormity,  these  great 
extravagances  cannot  be  estimated,  and  we  simply  ask  you  to 
n'tio,?  that  they  will  be  saved  by  municipal  operation. 

The  nineteen  distinct  companies  in  Chicago  to-day  are  man 
aged  by  thirty-eight  distinct  and  separate  salaried  officers.  Such 
eminent  authorities  as  C.  B.  Evans  of  the  Economist,  and  Vice- 
President  McKeon  of  the  Commercial  National  Bank,  formerly 
receiver  of  the  Calumet  Electric  Railway,  declare  that  five  effi- 
cient men  would  more  thoroughly  administer  our  consolidated 
system  than  do  the  present  thirty-eight  men.  These  same  au- 
thorities tell  us  that  $8,000  is  a  conservative  average  salary  to 
each  of  the  present  officers.  Allowing  the  sam  esalaries  to  the 
officers  of  the  municipal  system  as  are  paid  present  officers,  we 
save  the  salaries  of  thirty-three  men.  By  municipal  operation 
we  save,  in  salaries  alone,  thirty-three  times  $8,000,  or  $264,000. 
Again,  Honorable  Jurors,  this  chart  shows  the  annual  saving 
in  fixed  charge,  under  municipal  operation.  The  annual  fixed 
charge  of  the  three  large  surface  lines  we  have  taken  from  the 
Harlan  report.  The  fixed  charge  of  the  elevated  and  the  minor 
surface  lines  we  have  taken  from  the  financial  statements  of  each 
company  in  the  "Economist  Investor's  Manual"  of  1898.  They 
are  the  amounts  actually  paid  by  these  companies  as  bond  inter- 


est  and  rentals  in  1897,  on  the  mileage  that  the  city  will  pur- 
chase. The  totals  show  that  under  the  present  system  the  annual 
fixed  charge  is  three  million  six  hundred  eleven  thousand  and 
forty-seven  dollars  ($3,611,047).  Under  our  system,  assuming 
that  the  city  will  issue  bonds  for  the  entire  cost  of  the  lines,  the 
total  fixed  charge  at  three  and  one-half  per  cent,  will  be  but 
$2,624,675.  This  gives  a  net  saving  in  fixed  charge  by  munici- 
pal operation  of  $986,373. 

In  only  two  items,  then,  namely,  officering  and  fixed  charge, 
our  municipal  system  will  actually  save  $1,250,373. 

CHART  No.  8. — Saving  by  municipal  ownership. 

I.         IN    FIXED    CHARGES. 


Company. 

Cost  of 
duplication. 

Fixed 
charge. 

Interest  at 
3^2  per  cent. 

Saving. 

Chic   City  Ky 

$11  772  505 

$207,878 

$412  038 

No.  Chic.  Street  Ry. 

5,881,678 

481,620 

205,  858 

W   Chic   Street  Ry 

13  384,889 

1,060,715 

468  471 

J^tinor  Ry's 

8  680  000 

554,338 

303,  800 

Lake  Street  Elevated 

4,215  536 

291,797 

147  444 

Met   W  S   Elevated 

15  863  900 

750,000 

555  236 

So  Side  Elevated 

10  616,783 

33  750 

371  587 

Union  Elevated 

4  212  000 

210,600 

147,420 

Union  Con   Elevated. 

366  300 

20,350 

12,  821 

Total  

$74,993  591 

$3,611,048 

$2,624,675 

$986,373 

II.      IN    OFFICERING. 


Officers. 

Number. 

Salary. 

Total. 

At  present 

38 

$8  000 

$304  000 

Under  Mun.  Own'sh'p 

5 

8,000 

40,000 

Saving 

33 

$264,000 

$264,000 

Mun.  operation. 

J 

$1,250,373 

About  12  per  cent,  of  present  cost  of  operation  will  be  wiped 
out  by  municipal  operation. 

In  face  of  such  facts,  substantiated  by  figures  from  unim- 
peachable authorities,  our  charges  of  extravagance  under  the 


jpresent  system,  and  our  claim  of  more  economical  operation 
under  our  system,  must  receive  your  approval. 

Honorable  Jurors,  upon  us  rests  the  responsibility  of  showing : 

First — That  there  are  evils  in  the  present  system  which 
demand  a  remedy. 

Second — That  the  municipal  ownership  we  advocate  will 
remedy  these  evils;  and, 

Third — That  municipal  operation  will  be!  expedient  and  prac- 
ticable. 

First,  Honorable  Jurors,  have  we  not  shown  existing  and  in- 
herent evils  in  the  present  system?  We  have  shown  the  utter 
lack  of  unity  under  the  present  system  of  private  ownership.  We 
have  shown  that  by  the  peculiar  arrangement  of  three  surface 
and  three  elevated  companies,  whose  lines  center  in  the  down- 
town district,  continuous  transportation  for  one  fare,  through 
the  heart  of  the  city,  is  a  total  impossibility. 

We  have  shown  that  the  same  is  true  of  the  present  wretched 
arrangement  of  eleven  cross-town  feeder  companies,  by  which 
two  or  even  three  fares  are  extorted  from  passengers  to  the 
downtown  districts.  The  street  railroad  system,  which  should  be 
a  unit,  at  present  actually  consists  of  nineteen  separate  com- 
panies, which  make  unnatural  breaks  in  transportation,  enabling 
them  to  charge  excessive  fares. 

This  lack  of  unity  is  an  evil  far  reaching  in  its  effects,  but  we 
have  shown  still  another  evil,  of  such  moment  that  this  pales  into 
insignificance. 

We  have  shown  that  the  present  private  system,  by  stealth  and 
treachery,  directs  incessantly  at  aldermen  and  legislators  a  cor- 
rupting force  which  is  so  destructive  of  honesty  and  honor  in 
municipal  and  state  governments  that  it  admits  of  no  defense. 
Call  it  bribery,  of  call  it  blackmail,  the  fact  remains,  that  the 
evil  does  exist  and  is  inseparable  from  the  present  system  which 
the  affirmative  must  sustain. 

Second,  Honorable  Jurors,  have  we  not  shown  that  municipal 
ownership  will  furnish  an  immediate  and  sure  remedy  for  these 
evils  ? 

We  have  shown  that  under  municipal  ownership  the  nineteen 
individual  companies  will  be  changed  to  a  unified,  consolidated 
system  under  one  management. 

We  have  shown  that  extortionate  fares  will  be  changed  to 
reasonable  fares,  by  giving  transfers  between  the  downtown  lines 
of  the  north,  south  and  west  sides,  and  by  giving  transfers 
between  these  three  main  lines  and  the  large  number  of  cross- 
town  feeder  lines. 


—  78  — 

Again,  Honorable  Jurors,  we  have  shown  that  in  place  of  the 
present  system  of  private  interests  and  greed,  dependent  upon  a 
public  franchise,  and  in  place  of  its  $75,000,000  motive  for 
corruption,  municipal  ownership  substitutes  a  system  in  which 
the  people  are  themselves  proprietors  and  are  seeking  their  own 
welfare.  With  the  motive  and  the  briber  removed  there  can  be 
no  bribery. 

Third,  and  last,  Honorable  Jurors,  we  have  shown  that  mu- 
nicipal ownership  is  financially  expedient  and  that  operation  is 
thoroughly  practicable. 

We  have  shown,  from  universal  practice  and  the  highest 
authorities,  that  market  price  is  no  criterion  of  value  on  which  to 
base  fair  compensation,  and  that  the  only  basis  is  cost  of  duplica- 
tion. 

We  have  shown,  on  the  basis  of  past  am]  present  earnings,  that 
the  city  will  pay  for  the  three  main  surface  lines  in  eight  years, 
and  in  the  astoundingly  short  space  of  fourteen  years  Chicago 
will,  from  earnings  alone,  pay  for  the  entire  system  of  surface 
and  elevated  lines.  We  need  not  here  repeat  that  it  will  then  be 
possible  to  furnish  rapid  transportation  at  actual  cost  of  opera- 
tion, a  rate  impossible  under  the  present  system. 

And,  finally,  Honorable  Jurors,  we  have  proven  that  under  the 
third  concession,  which  is  a  part  of  the  system  we  advocate,  the 
city  will  operate  far  more  economically  than  do  the  present 
private  companies. 

The  two  causes  of  failure  in  municipal  administration, 
namely,  the  contract  system  and  the  spoils  system,  are  eliminated 
from  our  system,  and  under  such  conditions  failure  is  absolutely 
impossible. 

In  fact,  Honorable  Jurors,  we  have  shown,  from  familiar 
examples  of  the  receivership,  that  public  operation,  under  an 
efficient  management  and  with  an  efficient  force  as  is  conceded 
to  us,  is  always  more  economical  than  private  operation. 

In  our  debate,  Honorable  Jurors,  we  have  merely  sought  to 
show  that  under  our  municipal  system,  which  concedes  a  perfect 
management,  the  interests  of  Chicago  citizens  will  be  better  pro- 
tected than  under  the  system  of  private  ownership  that  exists  in 
Chicago  to-day.  It  is  not  necessary  for  us  to  show  municipal 
ownership  and  operation  perfect,  but  simply  preferable  to  the 
present  system. 

We  have  shown,  Honorable  Jurors,  the  inherent  evils  of  the 
present  private  ownership  and  operation. 

We  have  shown  how  this  conglomerate  present  system,  with  its 


—  79  — 

extortionate  fares  and  indefensible  corruption  of  officials,  will 
be  remedied  by  municipal  ownership  and  operation. 

We  have  shown  that  municipal  ownership  is  financially  expe- 
dient, and  that  operation,  where  all  appointments,  promotions 
and  removals  are  on  the  basis  of  efficiency,  as  is  conceded  to  us, 
will  be  eminently  successful.  ^ 

Considering  all  these  facts,  Honorable  Jurors,  must  you  not 
conclude  that  municipal  ownership  and  operation,  as  advocated 
by  the  negative,  is  far  preferable  to  the  present  private  owner- 
ship and  operation  in  Chicago. 


JOSEPH  LOEB. 

THREE   MINUTE  REBUTTAL. 

Gentlemen : 

First  as  to  the  negative's  facts  regarding  dividends  and 
watered  stock:  £so  amount  of  mere  assertion  that  stocks  are 
watered  will  ever  prove  such  to  be  the  fact,  and  the  negative 
have  done  little  more  than  assert  and  support  their  assertion  by 
those  of  such  socialistic  authorities  as  Prof.  Bemis  and  George 
Schilling.  It  is  true  that  the  capitalization  of  most  of  the  roads 
is  above  their  construction  cost.  It  could  not  be  otherwise. 
Every  change  of  motive  power  has  occasioned  an  increase  in 
capital,  every  substantial  improvement,  every  risk  on  experimen- 
tation has  drained  the  companies'  funds. 

The  negative  claiming  that,  in  the  replacement  of  the  old 
horse  and  cable  lines  by  the  new  electric,  there  should  be  but  lit- 
tle added  to  the  capitalization,  forget  that  immense  sums  had  to 
be  spent  in  experimentation  before  the  electric  road  wras  an  as- 
sured fact  and  once  so  assured  that  the  horse  and  cable  lines  rep- 
resented practically  valueless  properties.  Refuse  rewards  for 
money  so  spent  and  you  encourage  the  keeping  of  the  old  horse 
lines;  you  discourage  all  experimentation;  you  discourage  all 
improvement, — all  change  to  better  motive  powers  and  to  better 
service.  The  surplus  of  capitalization  over  construction  cost 
represents  a  perfectly  honest,  legitimate  and  beneficial  invest- 
ment, productive  of  the  best  results  in  the  interests  of  the  city's 
rapid  transit. 

Secondly,  gentlemen,  as  to  the  negative's  system  of  managing 
their  municipalized  lines.  How  are  they  going  to  run  them  ? 
Is  their  control  to  be  given  into  the  hands  of  a  board,  or  of  a  city 
department,  or  is  the  council  to  have  direct  and  absolute  control? 
The  negative  have  been  strangely  silent  about  this,  one  of  the 
most  vital  points  in  the  problem.  Realizing  the  clangers  in  any 
form  of  municipal  managament  they  have  discarded  all  and  find 
themselves  advocating  a  general  principle  of  municipal  control 
in  a  particular  locality  without  having  advanced  any  specific 
scheme  of  municipal  management.  Whatever  scheme  they 
might  propose,  be  it  that  of  control  even  by  a  supposed  nan-par- 
tisan board,  honustly  appointed,  this  difficulty-  confronts  them, — 
that  such  board  must  go  to  the  common  council  of  Chicago,  the 
most  corrupt  city  council  in  the  nation,  and  bargain  and  com- 
promise and  make  deals  whenever  an  extension  of  track,  or  a 


—  81  — 

new  pavement,  or  more  wires,  or  a  change  in  motive  power  is 
deemed  necessary.  For  the  common  council  lias  control  over 
the  city's  streets,  the  common  council,  with  Kinky  Dink  and 
Bath  House  John  and  Brennan,  and  many  like  them  in  power, 
has  the  power  to  give  or  withhold  permission  to  extend  lines  and 
make  street  improvements.  What  pretexts  would  not  be  hatched 
to  prevent  such  extension  or  improvement  till  aldermen's  objec- 
tions were  soothed  in  the  devious  ways  known  only  to  such  alder- 
men. Their  objection,  with  the  other  that  a  non-partisan  board 
is  practically  an  impossibility,  holds  against  all  systems  of  mu- 
nicipal management  by  board.  But  the  gentlemen  have  not  con- 
sidered a  management  necessary  and  would  control  and  run  suc- 
cessfully the  greatest  street  railway  system  in  the  world,  the  only 
definite  controlling  power  being  the  common  council  of  the  city 
of  Chicago. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


The  question  of  municipalization  of  natural  monopolies  is 
one  which  has  provoked  a  large  amount  of  newspaper  and  maga- 
zine discussion.  So  many  of  these  articles  are,  however,  so 
carelessly  worked  up,  and  are  so  far  from  doing  justice  to  either 
side  of  the  controversy,  that  they  are  of  little  avail  for  the  pur- 
pose of  a  general  bibliography. 

The  question  being  limited  to  Chicago,  entailed  upon  the  de- 
bate a  study  of  local  conditions.  The  city  report  and  records, 
council  proceedings,  the  files  of  the  newspapers,  and  numberless 
interviews  with  interested  citizens,  were  the  principal  sources 
of  information.  Chicago  newspapers,  on  account  of  their  intense 
partisanship  and  love  of  exaggeration,  are  of  little  value  as 
authorities. 

The  Hooker  collection  of  pamphlets  on  Chicago  in  the  John 
Crerer  Library,  in  Chicago,  contains  all  of  the  pamphlet  liter- 
ature written  on  the  Chicago  street  railway  controversy.  A 
fairly  complete  collection  of  these  pamphlets  has  been  made 
by  the  debaters,  and  presented  to  the  library  of  the  University 
of  Wisconsin.  Through  the  kindness  of  the  owners,  the  debaters 
also  obtained  access  to  the  clipping  collections  of  Mr.  Hooker, 
President  Doherty,  of  the  Northwestern  Electrical  Association, 
The  Street  Kailway  Review,  and  the  Western  Electrician. 

There  are  comparatively  few  works  dealing  directly  with  the 
question  of  municipalization,  but  we  give  below  a  list  of  the 
works  which  have  been  of  material  aid  to  us  in  our  investigation : 


—  S3  — 


BIBLIOGRAPHIES    ON    MUNICIPAL    GOVERNMENT. 

A  Bibliography  of  Municipal   Administration  and  City  Conditions.     By 

Robert   C.  Brooks.     Paper,  12mo,  233  pp.,  New  York,  Reform   Club, 

52  William  street,  50  cents. 

This  is  probably  the   most  complete  Bibliography  that  has   ever 
been  compiled  on  this  subject. 
Bibliography  of  Municipal  Reform.     Thomas   E.  Will,    Arena,  10:    555. 

(1894). 
Bibliography  of  Political     Corruption.       Thomas  E.   Will,    Arena,    10: 

(1894). 
Reference  Lists  and  Works  Relating  to  Municipal  Government.    Frank  E. 

Woodward,  Maiden,  1887.    4  pp. 

Bibliography  of  Municipal  Government  and  Municipal  Reform.  Proceed- 
ings of  the  First  National  Conference  for  Good  City  Government. 

1894. 
Bibliography  of  Municipal  Government  in  the  United  States.    Prof.  Frank 

A.  Hodder,  Kansas  University  Quarterly,  1:  179-96.     1893.    Same  in 

Cornell  University  Library  Bulletin,  Vol.  II.     1888. 
Bibliography,  Regular  quarterly  in  Municipal  Affairs. 
Bibliography,    Am.    Econ.  Soc.  publications.     Hopkins'   Monograph   on 

Cleveland. 
Bibliography  in  Sparling's  Municipal  History  of  Chicago. 

Bulletin  of  University  of  Wisconsin,  1898. 
Bibliography  —  N.  A.  Harris'  Prize  Essay,  Northwestern  University,  1898. 

Subject:     The  Street  Railways  of  Chicago. 
Bibliography  of  Twenty  seventh  annual  joint  debate,  Mayor  vs.  Council. 

G.  B.  Nelson,  Madison,  Wis. 

CHICAGO. 
Reports  and  pamphlets  relating  to  street  railway  situation: 

1.  Report  of  Special  Investigating  Committee  to  common  council,  1898. 
John  M.  Harlan,  president;  Geo.  E.  Hooker,  Hull  House,  secretary. 

2.  Report  of  Illinois  Labor  Bureau  for  1896.     Geo.  A.   Schilling,  labor 
commissioner.     (The  report  on  street  railways  was  prepared  by  Dr.  E. 
W.  Bemis  and  has  been  issued  separately  as  a  pamphlet.) 

Report  of  W.  K.  Ackerman  to  Civic  Federation  of  Chicago  on  the  affairs 
of  the  street  railway  companies. 

Report  of  Civic  Federation  on  street  railway  conditions,  1898. 

Report  oi  Committee  of  One  Hundred  on  Humphrey  bills,  1897. 

Report  of  Citizens'  Association  .Committee  on  bridges  and  street  railways. 
1883-1884.  These  reports  deal  with  the  controversy  of  1883,  which 
was  the  first  great  clash  between  the  city  and  the  companies. 


—  84  — 

Sunset  Club.  Debates  on  street  railway  situation,  1896-99.  Howard  L. 
Smith,  secretary. 

Speeches  and  addresses  of  N.  A.  Partridge,  Edwin  Burret  Smith,  Ralph  M. 
Easely,  GQO.  E.  Cole,  Wm.  A.  Giles,  Carter  H.  Harrison,  John  M. 
Harlan  and  Franklin  Head.  Many  of  these  are  published  in  pamph- 
let form  and  synopses  can  be  found  in  the  newspapers  during  the 
period  of  the  street  railway  agitation,  1896-1898,  and  particularly  in 
the  fall  and  winter  of  '97  and  '98. 

Yerkes,  Charles  T.  Speeches  and  addresses  on  the  street  railway  contro- 
versy. Printed  in  full  in  the  Inter  Ocean.  See  files  for  November 
and  December,  1898. 

Pamphlets  Published  by  the  Street  Railway  Companies. 

Pamphlets  on  street  railway  situation: 

The  Humphrey  bills:     Reasons  Why  They  Should  be  Passed.     The  Civic 

Federation  and  Newspaper  Trust  of  Chicago  Answered.     N.  Chicago 

St.  Ry.  Co. 
Street  Railways  of   Illinois.     Yerkes,  Wheeler,  Bonney,  and  McConnell. 

1897. 
Comparison  of  Street  Railway  Conditions  and  Methods  in  Europe  and 

the  United  States.      By  P.  F.  Sullivan. 
What  is  the  Allen  Law? 
The  Street  Railways  of  Chicago. 
The  Humphrey  Bills  as  They  are,  and  Not  as  They  are  Falsely  Stated  by 

the  Chicago  Press.      1898. 

The  Street  Railway  Situation.    Jas.  S.  Black.     1893. 
The  Humphrey  Bills  and  Comparison  of  American  With  European  Street 

Railways.  Chicago  City  Ry.  Co. 
Reply  to  Committee  of  One  Hundred. 
Rights  of  Street  Railways  Under  the  Constitution.  Chas.  L.  Bonney. 

Pamphlets  Issued  by  Reform  Organizations  et  al. 

The  Yerkes  Bill.     Answer  of  Chicago  Committee  of  One  Hundred. 

The  Street  Railway  Bills,  Committee  of  One  Hundred,  Civic  Federation. 

For  Good  Government  and  Good  Citizenship.  W.  A.  Giles'  address  before 
Union  League  Club. 

Suggestions  on  the  Street  Railway  Problem.  Address  by  Newton  A. 
Partridge.  June  9,  1898. 

The  Other  Side  of  the  Street  Railway  Situation  in  Chicago.  1893.  Alder- 
man Herrman  gives  legal  aspect. 

Questions  of  Civic  Federation  to  Street  Railway  Companies,  and  Report 
of  the  Federation.  1898. 

The  Question  of  the  Extension  of  Street  Railway  Franchises.     1893. 


—  85  — 

Addresses,  Speeches  and  Pamphlets,  Issued  ^y^John  P.  Altgeld  During 
the  Municipal  Campaign  of  spring  of  1899. 

Mr.  Altgeld  is  one  of  the  most  vigorous  of  the  advocates  of  mu- 
nicipalization,  and  his  speeches  present  that  side  of  the  question  in 
a  very  strong  light. 

General  References  on  Municipal  Conditions  of  Chicago. 

If  Christ  Came  to  Chicago.     W.  T.  Stead,  1891. 

Street  Railways  of  Cnicago.     St.  Ry.  Jour.,  Aug.,  1894. 

Taxation  in  Chicago  and  Philadelphia.     J.  R.  Commons,  J.  Pol.  Econ.  3: 

434  (1895). 

Water  Supply  of  Chicago.     Eng.  News,  May  11,  1893. 
City  Gov't  of  Chicago.     Sweet,  Ada  C.,  Bedford's  Magazine,  Nov.,  1892; 

also  MacVeagh,  Franklin,  Conf.  for  Good  City  Gov't,  1096.    pp.  80. 
Problems  of  Municipal  Government  for  Chicago.      Shorey,  Daniel   L., 

pamphlet,  1885. 

Reform  in  Chicago.     Julian,  Ralph,  Hprs.  Weekly,  39:  812. 
What  Has  Been  Done  in  Chicago.    Phelps,  E.  J.,  Good  Gov't,  14:  137. 
Municipal  Electric  Lighting  in  Chicago.    Meyers,  W.  J.,  Pol.  Sci.  Q.,  10:  87. 
Street  Lighting  in  Chicago,     Mikkleson,  M.  A.,  Ann.  Amer.  Acad.,  Pol. 

Sci.,  2:  715. 
How  to  Govern,  Chicago  by  a  Practical  Reformer.     Chas.  H.  Kerr  &  Co., 

118  pp.,  25c. 
Chicago  Since  the  Adoption  of  Civil'Service  Reform.    Merritt  Starr,  pp. 

162;  3rd  Nat.  Conf.  for  Good  City  Gov't. 

Municipal  Government  in  Chicago.    Rev.  O.  P.  Gifford,  Our  Day,  11:  59. 
Whitten:     Assessment  of  Taxes  in  Chicago.     Journal  of  Pol.  Economy, 

Chicago  University,  Vol.  5,  pp.  175. 
Finances  of  City  of  Chicago  and  Constitutional  Amendments.     Citizens 

Assn.,  1896. 

The  Civil  Service  Commission.     Rules  and  Regulations,  Chicago,  1895. 
Administration  of  Chicago.     Gage,  L.:     Open  Court,  April,  1897. 
Labor  Report  for  Illinois,  1891;  Contains  Statistical  Material,  relating  to 

Taxation  in  Chicago. 
Local   Government  in  Illinois.      Shaw,  A.:      Johns  Hopkins  University 

Studies,  Vol.  I:  10. 

Pamphlets  on  Inequalities  of  Assessments  in  Chicago;    containing  an  ex- 
pose of  corrupt  methods  in  levying  taxes,  tax  buying,  etc. 

Tax-payers  Defense  League.     Holbrook,  Z.  S.,  President. 
Voters'  league.     Pamphlets  on  good  government  and  reports  on  alderman 

and  city  officials.     The  civic  federation:  also,  issue  numerous  pamph- 
lets and  reports  yearly  on  municipal  conditions. 


—  86—  ; 

Historical. 

Andreas,  A.  T.     History  of  Chicago.     Chicago,  1884. 

Ahren,  M.  F.     Chicago  City  Officials   and   Political  History  of  Chicago. 

Chicago,  1871. 

Bennet,  F.  O.     Politics  and  Politicians  of  Chicago.     Chicago,  1787-1887. 
Flinn.     Chicago,  History  and   Government.     Chicago,  1891.     History  of 

Chicago  Police.     Chicago,  1887. 
Johnston.     Historical  Sketch  of  the  Public  School  System  of  Chicago. 

Chicago,  1880. 

Kirkland.  J.  and  C.     The  story  of  Chicago.     2  Vols.,  1892. 
Moses  and  Kirkland.     A  History  of  Chicago.     2  Vols.,  Chicago,  1895. 
Rauch,  J.  H.     Sanitary  Problems  of  Chicago,  Past  and  Present.     Chicago, 

1879. 
Rauch,  J.  H.     Public  Parks  and  Their  Effects,    with  Special  Reference  to 

Chicago.     Chicago,  1889. 
Sparling,  S.  S.     Municipal   History  of   Chicago.     Bulletin   University  of 

Wisconsin,  1898.    $.75.     Sec  Board  of  Regents. 

City  Documents. 

A  large  amount  of  the  material  was  collected  from  city  documents  and 
reports.     The  principal  city  publications  are  given  below: 
Charter  of  the  City  of  Chicago,  Dr.  Edmund  J.  James,  Univ.  of  Chicago 

Press,  1898. 

Report  of  Council  Proceedings,  1872-97. 
Report  of  Chicago  Sanitary  Board,  1872-98. 

Report  of  Civil  Service  Commission,  issued  as  separate  report,  1896-98. 
Report  of  Department  of  Public  Works,  1862-98. 
Report  of  Department  of  Electricity,   published   as   separate  pamphlet, 

1892-98. 

Report  of  Fire  Department,  1871-1898. 
Municipal  Reports  and  Mayors'  Messages.     Messages  published  separately 

in  pamphlet  form. 

Report  of  Police  Department,  1871-98. 

Water  Office  — Report  of,  bound  with  that  of  Dept.  of  Public  Works. 
School  Reports,  1872-98. 

NOTE. — Copies  of  all  the  street  railway  franchises  granted  are  printed  in 
the  Harlan  Street  Railway  Report,  already  referred  to. 

References  to  Financial  Conditions  Of  Roads. 

Chicago  Economist,  a  weekly  financial,  commercial,  and  real  estate  news- 
paper. 

The  Annual  Investors'  Manual  issued  by  this  paper  contains  the 
annual  statements  of  all  the  street  railway  companies. 


—  87  — 

The  Chicago  Stock  Directory  and  Investors'  Guide.     An  annual  publica- 
tion of  The  Chicago  Directory  Co.,  given  up  to  the  financial  condi- 
tions of  the  different  roads. 
New  York  Commercial  and  Financial  Chronicle. 

This  paper  issues  a  most  valuable  street  railway  supplement  quar- 
terly. 
Eand  McNally's  Bankers'  Monthly. 

See  also,  Dunn  &  Bradstreet's  financial  quotations. 

REFERENCES  TO    REPORTS   AND   ARTICLES     ON   THE   SUBJECT  OF  STREET  RAIL- 
WAYS IN  GENERAL. 

Report  of  Massachusetts  legislative  commission  on  the  street  railways 
of  Massachusetts.  1898. 

This  is  one  of  the  most  important  investigations  ever  undertaken 
in  this  field.  The  committee  consisting  of  Chas.  Francis  Adams, 
W.  W.  Crapo  and  Elihu  B.  Hayes,  visited  all  of  the  important 
cities  in  the  United  States  and.  Europe.  The  conclusions  arrived 
at  by  the  committee  are  worthy  of  careful  thought. 
Report  of  the  New  York  Legislative  Investigating  Committee  on  the  street 

railways  of  New  York.     2  vols.     1896. 

Burdett,  Everett  W.,  Argument  of/  before  the  Special  Legislative  Com- 
mittee of  Massachusetts  on  the  Relations  of  Street  Railway  and  Munic- 
ipal Corporations. 

This  is  probably  the  best  presentation  of  the  street  railway  side  of 
the  case  published. 

Howe,  Frederic  C.  The  City  of  Cleveland  in  Relation  to  the  Street  Rail- 
way Question.  1897. 

Howes,  Osborne,  Jr.  Report  of  the  Transportation  of  Passengers  in  and 
Around  the  Cities  of  Europe,  to  the  Rapid  Transit  Commission  of  the 
State  of  Massachusetts.  1891. 

See  also  Report  of  the  Rapid  Transit  Commission. 

Porter,  Robt.  P.  Municipal  Ownership  at  Home  and  Abroad.  Pamphlet. 
1898. 

Mr.  Porter  is  a  very  prolific  writer  on  the  subject  of  municipaliza- 
tion  of  street  railways.     He  favors  very  decidedly  the  system  of  pri- 
vate ownership. 
Missouri.     Report  of   Bureau  of    Labor    Statistics.    1386.    Part   I.     St. 

Ry.  Franchises.     Lee  Merriweather. 
Pennsylvania.     Annual  Reports  of  Secretary  of  Internal  Affairs.     '96  and 

'97. 

Polk,  Jefferson  S.  Address  of,  before  the  Das  Moines  Union  Mun- 
icipal League  on  the  question  of  Municipal  Ownership  of  Street 
Railways. 


—  88  — 

Municipal  Monopolies.  A  collection  of  papers  by  American  Economists 
and  Specialists.  Edited  by  Dr.  E.  W.  Bemis.  Thos.  Y.  Crowell  &  Co. 
$2.00.  Paper  on  Street  Railways  by  E.  W.  Bemis. 

The  proof  sheets  of  this  work,  which  has  just  been  issued,  were 
used  by  the  debaters.  Contains  papers  on  Waterworks,  Telephone, 
Gas,  Electric  Lighting,  and  on  Monopolies  in  General. 

Annual  Reports  of  Glasgow  Corporations,  Tramways.  Abstract  State- 
ment of  revenue  and  expenditure  with  capital  account  and  balance 
sheet.  Anderson  &  Co.  are  the  publishers  of  Glasgow  reports.  An- 
derson &  Co.,  22  Ann  St.,  Glasgow.  See  also  Annual  reports  of 
Sheffield,  Leeds,  Blackpool,  Plymouth,  Liverpool,  Birmingham. 
Thorough  reports  on  these  cities  to  be  found  in  report  of  Massachu- 
setts legislative  commission. 

Duncan's  Manual  of  Tramways,  Omnibuses  and  Electric  Railways.  T. 
J.  Whiting  &  Sons,  7a  South  Place,  E.  C.  Price,  3s.  6d.  Gives 
financial  statements  of  roads  in  England. 

Reports  of  Glasgow  Investigating  Committee  on  American  Street  Rail- 
ways. 1897.  Corporation  of  Glasgow. 

Annual  Reports  of  Toronto  Street  Railways.  See  also  agreement  between 
city  and  the  company. 

Report  of  West  End  Street  Railway,  Boston,  Mass.,  1898. 

Reports  of  Trustees  of  New  York  and  BROOKLYN  BRIDGE  RAILWAY  —ANNUAL 
PAMPHLET. 

GENERAL  ARTICLES  ON  STREET  RAILWAYS. 

Conditions  in  New  York  City  and  effort  to  secure  Municipal  under  ground 

system. 

Capitalization  of  Roads  in  Europe.  Curtis:  Yale  Review,  May,  1897. 
European  Railroads.  Articles  published  in  Inter  Ocean,    1897.     Robt.    P. 

Porter. 

Cost  of  Street  Railway  Building.     Harris,  William  T.     Engin.  M.     5:208. 
Detroit's  Three   Cent   Fares.     Van  Zandt,  A.  D.  B.     City  Govt.     1:  11. 

1896. 

Electric  Railway,  Future  of  the.     Sprague,  F.  J.    Forum.     12:  120. 
Electric  Street  Railway,  Advantages  of.    Prindle,  H.  B.  Engin.  M.  1:  671. 
European  Street  Railway  Practice.     Howes,  Osborne.     Engin.  News,  Nov. 

21,  1889.     St.  Ry.  Journ.,  Dec.,  1891. 
Financial  Value  of  Street  Railway  Franchises.     Steven,  E.  R.     Outlook, 

'  51:  600. 
Inpvestments  in   Street    Railways.     Higgins,  E.  E.    New    York.      1895. 

Street  Railway  Pub.  Co. 
The  Intrinsic  Value  of  Street  Railways.     Higgins,  E.  E.     St.  Ry.  Journ., 

Jan.,  1894.    Et  seq. 


—  89  — 

Law  of  Street  Railways.     Booth,  Henry  J.     Philadelphia,  1892. 
Municipal  Ownership  of  Street  Railways.     Richardson,   Chas.     p.    198. 

Proceedings  of  Third  Natl.  Cong,  for  Good  Govt.     1896. 
Public  Ownership  of  Street  Railways.     Parsons,   Prof.  Frank.     Boston. 

Arena  Pub.  Co.     1896.    Also,  Municipal  Street  Cars.     Fabian  Educa- 
tional Co.    Boston. 
Municipal  Revenue  from  Street  Railways.     Dewey,  Davis  R.    Am.  Econ. 

Assn.    2:  551. 

Two  Cent  Fares.     New  York.     American  Fabian  Society.     1896. 
Use  of  Public  Ways  by  Private  Corporations.    Powers,  Samuel  L.    Arena. 

5:  681. 
Should  Greater   New   York  Operate  its    Street   Railways  —  Yes.     John 

De  Witt  Warner.    Municipal  Affairs.     Sept.,  1897. 

Municipal  and  Private  Management  of  Street  Railways  —  A  Study  of  Re- 
sults and  Possibilities.  Edward  E.  Higgins.  Municipal  Affairs. 

Sept.,  1897. 
No  Government  Should  Operate  an  Industry.     Allen  R.  Foote.     Municipal 

Affairs.    June,  1897. 

A  Rejoinder.     Edward  M.  Grant.     Same  number. 
Street    Railway  Transportation.      Pt.  I.     pp.  679-867  of  "  Transportation 

Business  of  the  United  States."     Adams,  H.  C.     Eleventh  Census  of 

the  United  States,     1890. 

Electric  Railway,  The.   Guston,  W.  R.    St.  Ry.  Rev.  8:  224.   April  15  (1898). 
Statistics  on  Electric  Traction.     American  Ry.  World.     7:  140. 
The  Influence  of  Electric  Railroads  on  the  Distribution  of  Population  and 

Land  Values  in  Cities.     Knight,  Frank  E.     Minn.  Rec.  &;Ad.     2:  474. 
The  Glasgow  Experiment  in   Municipal  Ownership,     Porter,   Robert  P. 

St.  Ry.  Rev.,  8:  924.     May  15,  1898. 

The  Glasgow  District  Subway.     St.  Ry.  Rev.,  8:  158.     March  15,  1898. 
The  Glasgow  Municipal  Tramways.    Ry.  World,  7:  89.    March  18,  1898. 
The  Revolution   Between   the  Public  and    Street    Railway   Companies. 

Tutle,  J.  T.    St.  Ry.  Rev.,  8:  716.     Oct.  15,  1898. 
Street  Railways.     Partridge,  N.  A.     Chicago.     Ann.   Am.  Acad.  of  Polp 

Sci.,  12:  302.     Sept.,    1898. 

Reports  and  descriptions  of  all  the  principal  Electric  Railways 
will  be  found  in  the  files  of  the  Street  Railway  Review,  and  the 
Street  Railway  Journal.  See  indexes. 

REFERENCES     ON      GENERAL       SUBJECT      OF       MUNICIPAL       OWNERSHIP     AND 
MUNICIPALIZATION     OF    PUBLIC    UTILITIES. 

Municipal  Functions.  A  Study  of  the  Development,  Scope  and  Tendency 
of  Municipal  Socialism,  by  Milo  Maltbie,  Ph.  D.  Municipal  Affairs. 
Dec.,  1898. 


—  90  — 

Avarice  of  Municipalities,  The.     Raworth,  John.     Lightning,  14:  403. 

Municipal  Franchises.    City  and  State,  5:  260. 

Municipal  Liberty.    Parsons,  Frank.     City  Govt.,  5:237. 

Municipalizing  Public  Monopolies.     P.  Ownership,  Rev.,  2:  237. 

Private  and  Municipal  Ownership  in  England.  Raworth,  J.  S.  Prog. 
Age,  15:  562. 

Some  Views  and  Data  on  Municipal  Ownership.  Hopkins,  Henry,  Elec. 
Eng.,  25:  364,  389,  407. 

Municipal  Control.  Demand  for  the  Public  Regulation  of  Industries. 
Dabney,  N.  D.  Apn.  Am.  Acad.  Pol.  Sci.  2:  433. 

Fallacy  of  Municipal  Ownership  of  Franchises,  Control,  not  Possession, 
the  Solution  of  the  Problem.  Loomis,  Frank  M.  Engin.  M.  11:  814. 

Gas  Works,  Municipal  Control  of.     Keeler,  Bronson  C.     Forum.    8:  286. 

Lighting  Companies,  Control  of  Private.  Real  Estate  Rec.  &  Guide, 
May  14,  1892. 

Public  Service  Corporations,  Control  of.  Foote,  Allen  R.  Engin.  M., 
9:  50. 

Street  Car.  Water  and  Gas  Plants,  Municipal  Control  of.  Canadian  En- 
gineer, Feb.,  1896. 

Urban  Transit,  Public  Control  of.     Baxter,  Sylvester.     Cosmopol.,    18:  54:. 

Electric  Light  Plants,  Municipal  Ownership  of.  Bullon,  John  A.  Am. 
Gas.  Lt.  J.,  Jan.  20, 1896. 

Gas  and  Electric  Plants,  the  Municipal  Ownership  of.  Persse,  T.  B. 
Progressive  Age,  July  1,  1896. 

Municipal  Ownership  of  Gas  in  the  U.  S.  Bemis,  E.  W.  Am.  Econ. 
Assii.  Pubs.  VI,  4  and  5  (1891). 

Gas  Works,  Municipal.    Bemis,  E.  W.    Chant.,  16:  15. 

Gas,  Municipal,  in  the  U.  S.  Hollister,  J.  H.  Independent,  Jan.  21, 
1893. 

Gas  Making,  Recent  Results  in  Municipal.  Bemis,  E.  W.  R.  of  R's., 
7:  61. 

New  York  City  Should  Own  the  Gas  Supply.  Grant,  Edward  M.  Mun- 
icipal Affairs,  June,  1897. 

Government  Ownership.  An  account  of  337  now  existing  National  and 
Municipal  undertakings  in  the  principal  countries  of  the  world.  Pa- 
triotic Literature  Pub.  Co.  Baltimore. 

Municipal  Lighting.    Parsons,  Prof.  Frank.     Arena,  15:  95. 
-  Whipple,  Fred  H.    Detroit,  Mich,  1889. 

Arguments  in  behalf  of  the  town  of  Peabody  before  the  Committee  on 

Manufactures  of  the  Massachusetts  Legislature.     Burdette,  Everett 
W.,  Salem,  Mass.     Salem  Press.  Pub.  Co.     1891. 

Arguments  in  favor  of,  before  same  committee.     Crowley,  Daniel  N. 

The  Salem  Press  Publishing  Co.    1891. 


—  91  — 

Municipal  Lighting.     Argument  in  Remonstrance  to  the  above.     Collins, 

Patrick  A.,  Boston.     Wright  &  Potter.     1891. 
—  Remonstrance  to  the  Municipal  Control  of  Electric  Lighting  before 

same  committee.     Evans,  Forest  L.,  Boston.     1891. 
Street  Lighting,  Private  vs.  Municipal  Plants.     Foster,  Horatio  H.     Elec. 

Eng.,   March  29,  189  1. 
Speeches  and  address  of  Gov.  Pingree.     Published  in  pamphlet  form. 

Gov.  Pingree  is  an  ardent  advocate  of  Municipalization  and  has 
written  much  on  this  question. 
•  Speeches  and  address  of  Mayor  Jones,  of  Toledo. 

Mayor  Jones  recently  achieved  a  remarkable  political  victory  over 
both  the  old  parties,  running  on  a  Socialistic  platform  of  his  own. 
.Speeches  and  addresses  of  Allen  Ripley  Foote,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Mr.  Foote  is  one  of  the  most  vigorous  opponents  of  municipaliza- 
tion  in  any  form.     He  is  the  author  of  a  large  number  of  pamphlets 
on  this  subject,  among  which  are  the  following: 
Cost  of  Service  to  Users  and  Tax-payers. 
Comparison  between  Private  and  Municipal  Ownership. 
A  question  of  public  policy:  — Political  vs.  Private  Monopolies. 
Quasi-Public  Franchises. 

Powers  of  Municipalities.  A  discussion  of  the  Report  on  Municipal 
Program  of  the  Special  Committee  of  the  National  Municipal 
League,  1898. 

Municipal  Ownership  of  Commercial  Monopolies.    Read  before  the  Na- 
tional Electric  Light  Association,  at  Chicago,  Feb.  21,  1889. 
Economic  Value  of  Electric  Light  and  Power.    Published  book,  March, 

188S. 

The  Value  of  Economic  Data  to  the  Electrical  Industry.  Before  Na- 
tional Electric  Light  Association,  1891. 

Municipal  Control  of  Gas  and  Electric  Lighting  Plants,  1890. 
Municipal  Ownership  of  Industries.     Written  for  Am.  Econ.  Ass'n, 

1890. 

Municipal  Ownership  of  Quasi-Public  Works.     Washington,  1891. 
Municipal  Ownership  of  Quasi-Public    Works.     Before  Tax-payers' 

Ass'n,  Baltimore,  1891. 
Municipal  Franchises  for  Quasi-Public  Works.      National  Elec.  Light 

Ass'n,  1892. 

Francisco,  M.  J.,  Municipal  Ownership:  Its  fallacy,  1898;  Rutland, 
Vt.  SI.  50. 


—  92  — 


GENERAL    WORKS    ON    MUNICIPAL    GOVERNMENT. 

Adams,  Charles  Francis.  Municipal  Government.  Lessons  from  the 
Experience  of  Quincy,  Mass.  Forum,  14:  282.  (1892.) 

Bryce,  James.  American  Commonwealth,  3d  Ed.  1895.  N.  Y.,  Macmil- 
millan  &  Co.,  chap.  50,  51  and  52. 

Bradford,  Gamaliel.  "Our  Failure  in  Municipal  Government."  Scrib- 
ner's  M.,  2:485,  1887.  Our  'Failure  in  Munidipal  Government. 
Annals  Am.  Acad.  Pol.  Sci.,  3:  691,  1883. 

Conklin,  A.  R.  "City  Government  in  the  United  States  "  N.  Y.  Apple- 
tons.  1894.  pp.  227.  $1.00 

Champernowne,  Henry.     The  Boss,  N.  Y.     1892. 

Cooley,  E.  A.  Democracy  and  City  Government.  Cosmopolitan,  14:  737. 
1893. 

Dillon,  John  F.     Municipal  Corporations. 

Ely,  Richard  T.,  Univ.  of  Wisconsin.  Taxation  in  American  Cities.  T. 
Y.  Crowell  &  Co.,  New  York. 

-  Problems  of  to-day.     T.  Y.  Crowell  &  Co  ,  New  York. 
Socialism  and  Local  reform.     Thos.  Y.  Crowell  &  Co. 

Foote,  Allen  R.  Law  of  Incorporated  Companies  Operating  Under  Mun- 
icipal Franchises.  3  volumes.  1897. 

A  legal  work  giving  the  laws  of  every  state  with  regard  to  the  re- 
lations of  Municipalities  and  Corporations. 

Field,  David  Dudley.  Reforms  needed  in  Municipal  Government.  Al- 
bany Law  Journal,  48:  355.  1883. 

Gray,  John  H.  Gas  Supply  of  Boston.  Quar.  Journal  of  Economics. 
July,  1898. 

Gardner,  Rathbone.  Municipal  Reform  Projects.  Advance  Club  Pub- 
lications, Providence,  R.  I.  1891. 

Gladden,  Washington.  The  Government  of  Cities.  Century,  49:  155. 
November,  1894. 

Godkin,  E.  L.     Municipal  Cassarism.    Nation,  13:  205.     1871. 

-  Aldermen  and  their  Appointments.     Nation,  38:  158.     1884. 

Problems  of  City  Government.     Ann.  American  Academy  Political 

Science,  4:  857.     1891. 

Goodnow,  Frank  J.  Comparative  Administrative  Law.  Y.  Y.,  Putnams, 
1893.  2  vols. 

Covers  the  general  field  of  administration.     Vol.  I,  Bk.  Ill,  deals 
with  Local  Administration. 

Municipal  Home  Rule;  a  Study  in  Administration.  N.  Y.,  M  c  uillan. 

1895.     pp.  283. 

Very  good  discussion  of  the  legal  relations  of  the  state  to  the  city 
and  the  abuses  arising  from  this  relation. 


—  93  — 

Goodnow,  Frank  J.     Municipal  Problems.     N.  Y.,  Macmillan.     1897. 

The  best  work  in  book  form  covering  the  problems  of  municipal 
government. 
Hartwell,    Dr.    Edward   M.      Municipal   Statistical  Officers   in  Europe. 

Municipal  Affairs,     Sept.,  1897. 

Low,  Seth.  Columbia  University.  Chapter  52,  Bryce  American  Com- 
monwealth. "  American  View  of  Municipal  Government  in  the  United 
States ." 

—  Problems  of  Municipal  Government.     Address  at  Cornell  University, 
March,  1887.     Printed  by  University. 

—  Obstacles  to  Good  City  Government.     Forum,  5:  260.     1888. 

The  Problem  of  City  Government  in  the  United  States.  Outolok  53: 

624,  April  4,  1896. 

MacVeagh,  Franklin.  A  Program  of  Municipal  Reform.  Am.  Jour. 
Sociology,  March,  1896. 

Matthews,  Nathan,  Jr.  "  City  Government  of  Boston,"  Mayor  of  Boston, 
1891-5.  pp.  288.  Boston,  Rockwell  &  Churchill.  1895. 

Mayor  vs.  Council,  27th  Annual,  Joint  Debate,  University  of  Wisconsin: 
Geo.  B.  Nelson,  Madison,  Wis. 

Quincy,  Mass.  Finances  of  Durand,  Cornell  University.  Doctors  Theses, 
1896. 

Philadelphia,  Gas  Ring  of.  Clinton  Rogers  Woodruff.  Pamphlet  on 
1897.  Dr.  Leo  S.  Rowe,  on  Philadephia  Gas  Failure  in  Annals  Ameri- 
can Academy.  1898.  See  pamphlets  issued  by  Municipal  League  of 
Philadelphia. 

H.  L.  Doherty,  President  of  the  Northwestern  Electric  Light  Association 
has  a  very  complete  file  of  newspaper  clippings  on  the  Philadelphia 
gas  question. 

City  Government  of  Philadelphia. 

Senior  Class.     Wharton  School  of  Finance.     1893. 

Rosewater,  Victor.  A  paper  on  Unreliable  Statistics,  printed  in  Transac- 
tions of  American  Economic  Association. 

Shephard,  H.  N.     The  Mayor  and  the  City.     Atlantic,  74:  85.     1894. 

Tolman,  W.  H.     Municipal  Reform  Movements  in  the  U.  S.  1895. 

Wilcox,  Delos  F.  The  Study  of  Municipal  Governments.  Macmillan  & 
Co.  1897. 

Wilder,  A.  P.     The  MunicipafProblem. 

Annals  of  American  Academy  of   Political    and    Social  Science 

publications. 

Political  and  Municipal  Legislation  in  1895,  by  Professor  E.  Dana  Durand, 
Stanford  University. 

Political  and  Municipal  Legislation  in  1896.  By  Professor  E.  Dana  Du- 
rand, Stanford  University. 


—  9-i  — 

Political  and  Municipal  Legislation  in  1897.  By  Professor  E.  Dana  Du- 
rand,  Stanford  University. 

Political  and  Municipal  Legislation  in  1898.  By  Professor  E.  Dana  Du- 
rand,  Stanford  University. 

The  Municipality  and  the  Gas  Supply.  By  Professor  L.  S.  Rowe,  Univer- 
sity of  Pennsylvania. 

Administrative  Centralization  and  Decentralization  in  England.  By  Dr. 
James  T.  Young,  University  of  Pennsylvania. 

Administrative  Centralization  and  Decentralization  in  France.  r4By  Dr.. 
James  T.  Young,  University  of  Pennsylvania. 

The  Greater  New  York  Charter.     By  James  W.  Pryor,  Esq.,  New  York. 

State  Supervision  for  Cities.  By  Professor  J.  R.  Commons,  Syracuse- 
University. 

The  Problems  of  Municipal  Government.     By  E.  L.  Godkin,  New  York. 

Our  Failures  in  Municipal  Government.     By  Gamaliel  Bradford,   Boston. 

Home  Rule  for  Our  American  Cities.  By  Ellis  P.  Oberholtzer,  Philadel- 
phia. 

Articles  relating  to  Government  of  New  York. 
Comparison  as  to  Cost  of  Administration  in  New  York  and  Berlin  Real 

Estate  Record  and  Guide,  Nov.  10,  1881.     pp.  673. 
On  Municipal  Corruption  in  New  York.     Dr.    Chas.  H.  Parkhurst.    Our 

Day,  9:  451.    (1892.) 
Criminal  Degradation  of  N.  Y.  Citizenship.     John  B.  Leavitt,  Forum,  17,, 

659.     (1894.) 
"Franchises  of  New  Yoik,  A  Chapter  of  Municipal  Folly."     A.  C.  Bern- 

heim,  Century,  50:  149.     1895. 

Machine  Politics  in  New  YTork  City.     Theo.  Roosevelt,  Century,  33:  74. 
Municipal  Reform  in  New  York.     E.  L.  Godkin,  Nation,  13:  84.     1871. 
Lexow  Investigation.     "  Report  of  the  committee  appointed  by  the  Senate 

to  investigate  the  Police  Department  of  the  city  of  N.  Y."    Jan.  18-,. 

1895.     65  pp. 

Lexow  Investigation.  "Report  and  Proceedings  of  the  Senate  Investiga- 
ting Committee  on  the  Police  Department  of  the  city  of  New  York."" 

5vols.     Albany,  1895. 

"  Investigation  of  the  Department  of  Public  Works.  Report  of  Commit- 
tee." Theodore  Roosevelt.  New  YorE  Assembly  Docs.'  125, 153,  172. 

Sess.  1884. 
Preliminary  Report  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Cities.     (Fassett  Com.) 

Sen.  Doc.,  1889,  No.  47. 
Testimony  taken  before  the  Senate  Committee  on  Cities.     N.  Y.  Senate 

Docs.,  1891,  No.  80,  4  Vols. 
"Our  Fight   with   Tammany."     Dr.   Chas.    H.   Parkhurst.     New   York. 

Scribner's,  1895.  296  pp.  $1.25. 


—  95  — 

"Tammany  Ring."     ChapterSS.    Bryce's  Amer.  Commonwealth.    Vol.11. 
City  Vigilance.    A  monthly  issued  by  the  City  Vigilance  League  from 

January,  1894. 
Greater  New  York  Charter  and  Report  of  the  Commission.     Submitted  to 

the  Legislature  of  New  York,  February  20, 1897. 

Proceedings  of  National  Conferences  for  Good  City  Governments* 

Minneapolis 1894 

Cleveland 1895 

Baltimore 1896 

Louisville 1897 

Indianapolis 1898 

In  the  reports  of  these  conferences  are  to  be  found  some  of  the 
best  contributions  to  the  literature  of  Municipal  Government. 

The  keenest  thinkers  in  the  Municipal  field    present    some  of 
their  best  thoughts  at  the  annual  gathering. 

Clinton  R.  Woodruff,   Dr.  Frank  J.  Goodoow,  Dr.    L.   S.  Rowe, 
Franklin  Me Veagh,  Frank  W.  Loomis  and  Dr.  Bemis  are    among 
those  who  regularly  contribute  papers. 

Each  year  reports  of  the  Municipal  conditions  of  all  the  leading 
cities  are  presented. 

The  question  of  Municipalization  was  discussed  at  the  conferences 
in  1896  and  1898. 

GOVERNMENT    OP    FOREIGN    MUNICIPALITIES. 

Birmingham,  History  of  the  corporation  of.    J.  T.  Bunce.     1885. 

Berlin,  A  Study  of  Municipal  Government  of .  Jas.  Pollard.  2nd  edition, 
Edinburgh.  1894. 

Code,  The  English  Municipal.     Sir  J.  R.  Somers  Vine.     London.     1888. 

Civil  Service  in  Great  Britain.     Dorman  B.  Eaton.     1880. 

Glasgow,  Its  Municipal  Organization  and  Administration,  by  Sir  Jas.  Bue 
and  James  Pa  ton.  Glasgow.  1898. 

Local  Government.     M.  D.  Chalmers.     1883. 

Local  Government  and  Taxation  in  the  United  Kingdom.  Essays  of  the 
CobdenClub.  London  and  Paris.  1892.  Edited  by  I.  W.  Probyn, 

London  Government  under  Local  Government  act  of  1888.  Futh  &  Sim- 
son.  1888. 

London  Programme,  The.     Sidney  Webb.     1894. 

Municipal  London  or  London  Government  as  it  is,  and  London  under  a 
Municipal  Council.  Jos.  B.  Futh.  1876. 

Municipalities  at  Work.    Frederick  Dolman.     London.     1895. 


—  96  — 

Municipal  Government  in  Great  Britain.     Dr.  Albert  Shaw. 
Municipal  Government  in  Continental  Europe.     Dr.  Albert  Shaw. 

These  are  the  best  general  works  on  foreign  municipal  govern- 
ments. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

The  Independent,  May  6,  1897,  published  what  might  be  called  a  munici- 
pal ownership  number,  containing  a  discussion  pro  and  con  of  the 
question  of  municipalization. 

The  United  States  Labor  Bureau,  with  Carroll  D.  Wright  at  its  head,  is  at 
present  engaged  in  a  very  exhaustive  investigation  into  the  subject  of 
municipal  electric  light,  gas  and  water  plants. 

The  Annual  Reports  of  the  Detroit  municipal  lighting  plant  are  important 
and  interesting  to  the  student  of  the  question  of  municipalization. 

Prof.  John  Gray,  of  Northwestern  University,  has  a  very  complete  set  of 
pamphlets  and   articles  bearing  on  this  subject,  being  himself  the 
author  of  a  number  of  magazine  article  on  the  question. 
The  most  prominent  magazine  and  newspaper  writers  on  the  question  of 

municipalization  are  the  following: 

Favoring  municipal  ownership—  Opposing  municipalization  — 

Altgeld,  John  P.  Curtis,  Wm.  E. 

Bemis,  E.  W.  Foote,  Allen  Ripley. 

Baker,  M.  W.  Francisco,  M.  J. 

Commons,  John  R.  Foster,  Horatio. 

Grout,  E.  M.  Higgins,  E.  E. 

Loomis,  Frank  W.  Porter,  Robt.  P. 

MacVicar,  John 

Parsons,  Frank. 

Perrine,  F.  A.  C. 

Pingree,  Hazen  V. 

West,  Max. 

The  reports  of  the  Massachusetts  Board  of  Gas  and  Electric  Light  Com- 
missioners, are  exceedingly  important. 

Massachusetts  has  progessed  further  than  any  of  the  other  states  along 
the  line  of  a  regulation  of  public  monopolies. 

CURRENT   LITERATURE   DEVOTED   TO    MUNICIPAL   GOVERNMENT. 

The  leading  papers  devoted  to  municipal  government  and  municipal  re- 
form are  the  following: 
Good  Government.     Official  Journal  of  the  Nat.    Civil  Service  Reform 

League.     Pub.  monthly,  New  York.    $1.00  per  year. 
City  and  State.    Pub.  weekly,  Philadelphia,  1305  Arch  St.    Herbert  Welsh , 

editor.    $1.00  per  year. 


—  97  — 

Municipality  and  County.    Monthly,  202  Main  St.,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.  J.  Henry 
Wood,  editor.     82.00  per  year. 

Municipal  Affairs.     Quarterly,  52  Williams  St.,  New  York.     Pub.  by  New 

York  Reform  Club.     First  number  issued  March,  1897. 
Other  periodicals  containing  interesting  matter  on  the  question  under 

debate  are: 

Street  Railway  Review,  Chicago  and  New  York.     A  monthly  devoted  ex- 
clusively to  Street  Railway  Interests. 

Street  Railway  Journal,  Chicago  and  New  York.     Also  devoted  to  Street 
Railway  Interests. 

Western  Electrician,  Chicago.     Has  in  the  past  given  much  space  to  the 
d'scussion  of  Municipalization. 


The  replies  to  the  several  thousand  letters  written  by  the  de- 
baters, will  be  kept  on  file  in  the  library  of  the  University  of 
Wisconsin. 

Among  these  are  letters  from  the  greater  number  of  English 
and  Continental  cities  in  regard  to  the  street  railway  problem ; 
letters  from  prominent  citizens  throughout  the  United  States, 
giving  their  ideas  on  Municipal  Reform,  and  responses  to  a  gen- 
eral circular  letter,  giving  a  set  list  of  questions,  relating  to  Mu- 
nicipal Conditions. 

W.  S.  K. 


The  History  of  the 

UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN 

Is  about  ready  for  Sale. 

Every  alumnus,  student  and  friend  of  the  University 

should  subscribe  for  a  copy  at  once. 
FOR    PARTICULARS,    ADDRESS 

J.  N.  PURCELL, 


MADISON,  WIS, 


(Jrom  Vaily  Carcinal  of  April  26,  It 9 3.) 


The  forthcoming  history  of  the  uni- 
versity and  its  alumni,  edited  by  R.  G. 
Thwaites,  will  open  with  a  sonnet  in 
commemoration  of  the  fiftieth  an- 
niversary, contributed  by  Mrs.  Mary 
Adams.  Next  will  follow  a  short 
preface  by  President  Adams.  The 
story  of  Madison,  in  five  chapters,  by 
Mr.  Thwaites,  will  be  given  next.  This 
story  is  more  properly  a  sketch, 
drawn  in  detail  only  insofar  as  it  fur- 
nishes a  setting  for  the  university,  so 
that  it  may  appeal  to  any  desiring  to 
move  here  with  their  families  to  edu- 
cate their  sons  and  daughters.  Then 
will  follow  the  main  substance  of  the 
book — that  which  sets  forth  the  ob- 
ject of  the  work;  namely,  the  history 
of  the  university  in  fourteen  or  fifteen 
chapters.  This  history  will  extend  to 
the  close  of  the  present  legislative 
session  and  will  be  absolutely  accu- 
rate in  every  detail.  All  the  manu- 
script will  pass  through  the  hands  of 
the  university  authorities  and  receive 
their  sanction  before  being  sent  to  the 
publisher. 

A  sketch  of  the  setting  of  the  uni- 
versity by  Professor  W.  H.  Hobbs, 
will  be  included  here.  All  depart- 
ments will  be  exhaustively  treated 
and  illustrated  by  cuts  of  the  various 
scenes  about  the  institution.  Dr.  El- 
som  will  have  the  preparation  of  the 
description  of  the  physical  culture  de- 
partment in  charge.  Besides  these 


there  will  be  articles  varying  from 
2,500  to  5,000  words  by  the  heads  of 
the  several  departments,  Deans  Birge, 
Bryant,  Henry,  Johnson  and  others. 

The  entire  work  is  executed  on  the 
best  of  paper,  quarto  size,  the  type  be- 
ing clear  and  dressy,  the  body  of  the 
page  occupying  a  space  6  by  9  inches. 
The  work  is  intended  to  cover  about 
one  thousand  pages.  It  will  be  bound 
in  two  types — cloth  and  Russian  calf. 
All  the  matter  is  in  type  and  ready 
for  printing  save  the  articles  from  the 
heads  of  the  departments,  the  last 
chapter  of  the  history  of  the  univer- 
sity and  the  sketches  of  distinguished 
alumni.  The  collecting  of  material 
for  this  last  will  be  the  most  difficult 
of  any  connected  with  the  work,  as 
the  subjects  are  scattered  over  all 
parts  of  the  globe  and  must  be 
reached  either  personally  or  by  mail. 

After  this  will  be  placed  the  sketch- 
es of  the  faculty.  An  engraving  of 
the  subject  of  the  sketch  will  occupy 
one  full  page,  and  on  the  opposite 
page  will  appear  a  brief  and  accurate 
sketch  of  his  life.  There  will  also  be 
sketches  of  the  lives  of  the  distin- 
guished alumni  of  the  university 
which  will  be  of  great  interest  to  the 
readers.  All  the  biographical  sketches 
will  be  prepared  under  the  direct  su- 
pervision of  Mr.  Thwaites  and  will  be 
authoritative. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


APR   SO  1934 


1954 


. 


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